Percy Jackson and the Cursed Books
by PercyJacksonObsession
Summary: In a flash of golden light, they are taken to the past. Uncovering secrets unknown to each other, they discover there is more to each other than merely their actions. When the demigods get sent to do one of the most cliche things in the history of fanfiction, they discover a thing or two about their heroes that they might just wish they never learned. So, they read.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. Yeah, I know loads of people do this. But hey, I think their funny. Mehehehe.**

**I'm going' Christmas caroling tomorrow with choir. I get to ride a Double Decker bus. It's gonna be amazing!**

**Anyways, I tried adding multiple twists in it for you. Oh, and just so ya know, I wrote this in early October but forgot to post it so… Yeah. It may be bad. Whatever.**

**On the bright side, the introduction is over five thousand words. Talk about an achievement! I'm so proud!**

**Well… read.**

**Song I'm listening to: Real World by All American Rejects**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy… but I wish I did. MOO!**

Camp Half-Blood

It was a beautiful day at Camp Half-Blood. Monsters were roaming in the forest, the breezes rustled through the trees. The ocean gently washed up on the shores of the Long Island Sound. The cabins shone in the sunlight that shone through the sky, the clouds floating past gracefully through the blue.

But the demigods were far from happy.

The Camp-Fire was an pitch black color, not even half a foot high, reflecting the depressed mood of the campers. The campers were singing half-heartedly, while some were comforting others. You would think that someone had died, but no, to them this was far, far worse.

Percy Jackson was missing.

It felt as though someone had taken the anchor from the camp. The thing that kept them grounded. Percy had always been the brother that they had never had. He knew all their life stories, loved them all, and comforted them, even the ones he had never even spoken to, when they were down. He protected them, and they were often comforted knowing they would have someone like Percy to protect them whenever they needed them. He was a role-model, a leader, brother, sometimes even like a father, caretaker, best-friend. He was their everything. Not to mention crush. It wasn't hard to fall for the loyal, laid-back son of Poseidon.

But he was gone.

Everyone knew he was at the Roman Camp. He had been taken by Hera, had his memory wiped, and was most likely on some quest to save the world... _again. _They all knew that this was Percy they were talking about. He couldn't go five minutes without helping somebody in need. They knew the next Great Prophecy was coming, and Percy would be a part of it. Hadn't he been through enough? Death, suffering, pain, loss, grief... there had to be a time when he would eventually snap.

Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Nico Di Angelo, Clarisse La Rue, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Conner and Travis Stoll, Katie Gardner, Chris Rodriguez, and Will Solace were currently comforting each other. As the closest friends of Percy, it had hit them the hardest. Knowing everything they went through would be lost to him, it broke each and every one of their hearts. What if he changed? What if he forgot them? What if he was dead and there was no point of working so hard on the Argo II in the first place? They all knew they would be doomed without Percy fighting by their side.

Piper, Leo, and Jason were currently wondering 'What had Percy Jackson done?' Only each in different ways.

Piper was thinking it because she wanted know how a single person could have such an effect on everyone. She had only heard stories about him, but whenever the name was even mentioned, it was like they had fallen into a pit of despair. For some odd reason, Piper found herself yearning for something she had never known. She wanted to meet Percy Jackson, wanted to find out what he was like.

Leo wanted to know what he did because Percy was his idol. He had heard that he was the Savior of Olympus. Their leader. The Greatest Hero of All Time. Percy Jackson had many titles. Leo just wanted to make sure he had truly earned it.

Jason, however, wanted to know why the heck everyone thought Percy Jackson was better than him. Jason had beaten a titan for the gods' sake. And here they were going on and on about Percy this and Percy that. He couldn't wait to get to his camp, where people worshiped him like that.

Piper walked up to Annabeth, hating how depressed the teen looked, Leo and Jason in tow. "Annabeth-" she started, putting an arm around the depressed girl "-we're gonna find him. There's only one month left..." Jason scowled at the mention of 'him', and Leo brightened slightly.

Annabeth clenched her fists around something in her lap, looking down at it sadly, "What if they didn't trust him Piper? What if he got a new girlfriend, or died, or doesn't remember me!?" her voice rose with each word, and she was slightly hysterical.

Piper swallowed, looking towards her shoes for a second, before looking back up. "We just will okay? I promise."

Annabeth looked up at her and smiled gratefully. "I hope you're right. I just wish..." She trailed off, but everyone knew the answer. She wanted Percy back. At the moment, Piper saw what Annabeth was looking at in her lap. It was a picture of a hot guy. A very hot guy. He looked to be at least six feet tall, -only about an inch shorter than Jason- had tousled, unruly raven black hair, gorgeous sea green eyes, and even had a six pack –slender and lithe. He was perfectly toned, and had a cute trouble-maker smile and had an arm around Annabeth, who for the first time since Piper had met her, was smiling. They were on the beach, and Percy was shirtless. He didn't seem her type –to rebellious, but it didn't mean he wasn't hot.

Before she could finish gaping, they were overcome in a golden light, disappearing and leaving no trace of their existence behind.

Camp Jupiter

Camp Jupiter was a lot happier than it was at Camp Half-Blood. Everyone was getting ready to go meet the Greeks, also known as Percy's other family. The Roman's also loved Percy, he was a loving and compassionate leader that picked them up when they were down and didn't throw them to the wolves for showing emotion. He cared about them truly, and helped them become slightly less military like and more family like.

Percy was currently sitting by the shore of the Little Tiber, knees to his chest, arms wrapped loosely around his knees as he stared at the churning waters of the river. The suspense was killing him and he really wanted to see Annabeth and all of his other camp friends. He missed them a lot, and wanted something that could help him take his mind off the stress of the Great Prophecy, and the sacrifice he was going to have to make. He couldn't help but think it was Annabeth, his girlfriend and the last of the seven. If it was going to be so hard to move on that the goes and goddesses kept showing up and warning him, than he really didn't want to know what it was.

Percy was torn out of his musings by a certain daughter of Pluto and son of Mars plopping down on either side of him, staring at the water in silence with him. They sat there and let Percy enjoy the peace and quiet, until he spoke up.

"They're going to kill me..." he mumbled softly, chuckling slightly at the truth of his words.

Hazel giggled, her curly hair bobbing up and down slightly as she did so. "They won't kill you. You're too lovable."

Frank nodded. "She's right. They won't kill you, but the lovable part..." he trailed of, and Percy bumped his shoulder laughing.

Suddenly, Percy sobered up. "I miss them..." his shoulders slumped as he sighed, looking back towards the river which, since it was water, calmed him. His fists were clenched so tight around his knees his knuckles were white. "I wonder if they miss me as much as I miss them..."

Hazel rolled her eyes half-heartedly. "They definitely miss you. Who wouldn't? You've only been here a week and everyone here has already fallen in love with you."

Percy looked at her alarmed, and she laughed, "Not literally in love. Well some have...I mean did you see how many girls flirted with you? Reyna asked you out, Hylla gave you the eye, and Kinzie freaking ambushed you..." she and Frank snickered at the look on his face. Well, snickering is an understatement, because Frank was full out rolling on the floor with laughter.

Percy rolled his eyes. "So funny. Hilarious. Hahaha. I'm dying of laughter." he spoke blandly, causing them to laugh even harder, so hard in fact that Frank fell into the Tiber, causing Percy to laugh too.

A few seconds later, after some epic water controlling from Percy and Frank calling them his fishy powers, causing him to have to be saved by Percy once again when he was mysteriously pulled in by the water as if it had a mind of its own (note the sarcasm), they calmed down.

They all sat happily, and laying in the soft grass near the river, hands behind their heads and pointing out shapes in the clouds, heads in the form of a triangle going out like in those cheesy hurt/comfort movies.

"Thanks guys..." Percy mumbled, smiling.

"No problem, Perce." they both spoke in unison before being overwhelmed in a bright light and disappearing mysteriously.

Olympus 2003

Things on Olympus on the Winter Solstice were... not so peaceful.

The gods were arguing. Again. Thunder was flashing, waves were crashing, shadows were bending, little kids were screaming. Just your average day on Olympus.

"YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!"

"WELL YOU TURNED HER INTO A TREE!"

"EAT YOUR CEREAL!"

"YOU CHEATED ON ME AGAIN, ZEUS!"

"I WON ATHENS FAIR AND SQUARE!"

"HERMES, GIVE ME BACK MY WALLET!"

"APOLLO, STOP BEING AN IDIOT!"

"I'M NOT AN IDIOT!"

Meanwhile, the young demigods that had come with Chiron for a field trip were trembling. They knew a single accident could cause the end of their life or even the end of the world if the got mad enough. The snap of a finger and they were dead.

The only one not arguing was Hestia. She watched the argument before sighing and shaking her head. Why couldn't they get along and be a family? Didn't they get that they were scaring their kids? She shook her head once again before turning back to the heart and watching in the fire a young boy about 7 who had taken her interest. The young boy was quite adorable and had messy jet black hair and very familiar sea green eyes.

All of this was interrupted with a bright flash of light so bright, even the gods had to look away. When they looked back, there were about nineteen children falling from the sky, most likely towards their deaths, and screaming their heads off. They were all in so much shock, no one tried to catch them, so you can imagine their surprise when one of them held out his hand and all the water from the fountains cushioned their fall, setting them on their feet. The boy then flipped in the air before landing, joining in the huge panic, clinging to them and screaming.

They continued screaming, hugging each other like there was no tomorrow, until the water controlling boy stopped suddenly and said "Well I feel silly."

This caused all heads to turn towards him, but the children didn't seem to notice the gods and young demigods. Young Annabeth gaped as she saw Thalia, only slightly older, standing their in her presence, and ran to hug her. However, her hope turned to sadness when she got there and instead of being hugged like she expected, saw Thalia rush to the Water Boy, along with about ten others, and wrap him in a hug and scream "Percy!" over and over as if they couldn't believe he was here.

The demigods in question were hugging him, overjoyed he was here and clinging to him as if he were life in itself, even Clarisse. They all had tears of joy, and Percy was hugging them back just as fierce.

Frank and Hazel grinned. "I take it you're the Greeks, Percy's friends right?" Hazel asked.

They all turned to her, startled and taking her in, before nodding. Annabeth stepped forward. "I'm-"

"Let me guess." Hazel interrupted. "Annabeth, his mega smart, kick butt awesome girlfriend." Annabeth grinned at the description, grabbing Percy's hand, while the gods and young demigods stared wide eyed, mainly young Annabeth, wondering how she didn't end up with Luke, "Thalia, his annoying but awesome cousin who is like his sister," Thalia smiled at Percy, wrapping him in a one armed hug which he gladly returned, while Jason stared on fuming. She was his sister after all. "Nico, whom we all know and some want to strangle for saying you didn't know Percy," everyone turned to him, and he swallowed, "but is like a brother to him, "now he smiled., "Grover Underwood, his best friend ever," Grover fist-bumped Percy, "Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the awesome Oracle" Rachel hugged Percy "Clarisse, Percy's frenemy." Clarisse smirked, glad she was remembered, "Chris, one of Percy's closest friends," Chris grinned, glad he was included. "Travis and Conner Stoll, Percy's close friends that are fun to prank with. " they high fived "Katie Gardner, Percy's close friend who he helps get revenge on the Stolls with," This caused Katie to laugh and nod, "and Will Solace, another one of his close friends." at this point, all of Percy's friends were smiling, bringing him to another hug, and Annabeth kissed his cheek.

Percy grinned, "I really missed you guys"

"Now that that's over"- Reyna clapped her hands together, surprisingly cheerful. She turned to Percy. -"What the Hades did you do!?" she exclaimed towards him. Percy shook his head.

"It wasn't me for once!" he told her, waving his arms in the air in denial.

Thalia snorted. "I find that highly unlikely, Kelp Head," she rolled her eyes at him. Percy huffed.

"You guys are jerks." He grumbled, but he was smiling. He had really missed them.

"Who, us?" they asked in unison, eyes widened innocently.

"Pfft. You guys have no idea how to do a puppy dog look," he told them with an eye roll.

"You do it then, Kelp Head!" Thalia demanded. Percy grinned, before widening his beautiful sea-green eyes slightly, making them water a little and sticking out his rosy bottom lip a little.

"Me?" he asked in an innocent voice. The demigods that hadn't seen the face before went wide eyed, while the others rolled their eyes.

"I hate you, Kelp Head," Thalia huffed. Percy grinned his breathtaking smile that the Greeks missed so much.

"No you don't. You love me!" he told her. She sighed.

"You better believe it." She conceded, a tint of relief in her voice as she pulled him into another hug.

The others smiled at the scene before them, but before they could say anything, Zeus boomed, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"

The demigods looked startled, glancing around, wondering why Olympus was back to the old way, before Annabeth gained her bearings. "You don't- you don't recognize us?"

"Should I?" he questioned suspiciously.

"Well we did save Olympus." Travis put in, glancing warily around the room.

The god's eyes grew wide. "Why does Olympus need saving?" Athena questioned.

Before the demigods could respond, a note fell from the sky along with a huge box. They all glanced at each other, before pushing Percy forwards, knowing he was the most powerful. He scowled, before muttering, "Some friends you are." and picked up the giant box impressively, and the note. He stared at it before scowling and handing it to Annabeth. "I can't read it. It's English." She smirked and read it.

_Dear gods and demigods of the present and future,_

_You are probably wondering why we sent you here, and for the gods what they are doing here. They are here to read books about the Greatest Hero of All Time, even though he would probably never admit it, Percy Jackson. We have sent the older demigods from the future and will be watching for our own amusement. Soon, another note will come telling you about our own little twist while you read. Enjoy. Kids, don't hurt the gods. Gods, no vaporizing._

_From,_

_Apollo, the awesomest *thunder* second awesomest god ever_

_The Fates_

_P.S. Full titles (That means you Percy)_

They were all silent, glancing between Percy, who was blushing like crazy, and the note, until Nico, Thalia, and the Stolls yelled out, "BLACKMAIL!" causing Percy to groan. Suddenly, he smirked deviously, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"I hope you know I have blackmail against all of you to." he grinned, staring pointedly at Thalia and Nico, who scowled.

"Zip it."

"Them hurt us. Pfft." Ares scoffed, while Percy smirked at him.

"I dunno," Percy drawled in a singsongy voice "Maybe we could-" he was interrupted by Annabeth's hand going over his face, and she smiled sweetly at the God's shocked expressions.

"Well-" Zeus said, breaking the conversation, "Introduce yourselves."

They all pushed Annabeth forward as the gods took her in.

She was beautiful, that was for sure. She was about 5ft. 7in. and had a pearly white smile. Her curly blonde hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a grey tank top with an owl on it, and skinny jeans along with black converses. She was obviously athletic and had stormy yet intimidating grey eyes that seemed to be calculating everything in the room. She also had a strange stripe of grey in her hair. "Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, bearer of the sky, Architect of Olympus, Sailor of the Sea of Monsters, Wanderer of the Labyrinth, Hero of Olympus, and One of the Seven, Girlfriend of Percy Jackson" Everyone gaped at her and she smiled, and young Annabeth smirked.

"What are the Seven?" Athena questioned.

"The next Great Prophecy." Hazel told her monotonously, as if she'd said it about a million times.

"So it's completed? Who was the Prophecy Child?" Zeus asked.

Everyone turned to Percy, who smiled sheepishly. "Guilty."

"What's the next one?" Hestia asked, trying to avoid outbursts from the rest of her family.

"Seven Half-Bloods Shall Answer the Call

To Storm or Fire the World Must Fall

An Oath to Keep With Final Breath

And Foes Bear Arms to the Doors of Death." the demigods said as if they rehearsed it.

The gods gaped, but the demigods were desperate to move on.

Next came a burly girl with stringy brown hair and pig eyes that glared at everyone and everything. She wore a ripped red shirt and ripped jeans with tennis shoes, and seemed to glow slightly red. "Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares, Drakon Slayer, Sailor of the Sea of Monsters, Driver of Ares Chariot, Wanderer of the Labyrinth, Hero of Olympus, Girlfriend of Chris Rodriguez." Everyone gaped once again and Young Clarisse shouted "HADES YEAH!"

Next came a boy with bright blonde hair, a dazzling smile, and blue eyes. He wore a shirt that had a sun on it, faded jeans, and had a bow slung across his back. He grinned. He wore bright gold tennis shoes." Will Solace, Son of Apollo, Hero of Olympus." He grinned cheekily at them, and Apollo beamed happily.

After Will came a girl with long black hair a leaf green eyes that seemed somewhat earthy. She was wearing a 'Save the Planet' T-Shirt and Cargo pants, smiling warmly at everyone. She also wore brown converses. "Katie Gardner, Daughter of Demeter, Hero of Olympus, Girlfriend of Travis Stoll." Young Travis and Katie blushed, and Demeter smiled.

Next came two boys, one that looked older than the other, with curly brown hair and wearing red shirts that said, 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2' with jeans and magic flying shoes. They had a sort of elfish face that screamed trouble. They smiled "Travis and Conner Stoll, Sons of Hermes, Heroes of Olympus, Travis over there's the Boyfriend of Katie Gardner." Travis blushed at the last comment and Hermes smiled brightly at his children, while the younger Stolls high-fived.

Next came up a boy with curly brown hair and elfish features like the last two, wearing an orange T-shirt and jeans. He smiled. "Chris Rodriguez, Son of Hermes, Wanderer of the Labyrinth, Hero of Olympus, Boyfriend of Clarisse La Rue."

Next came a satyr with curly brown hair and brown eyes. He walked forward, seeming slightly nervous before getting out "Grover Underwood, Satyr, Sailor of the Sea of Monsters, Wanderer of the Labyrinth, Finder of Pan, Lord of the Wild, Hero of Olympus, best friend of Percy Jackson, Boyfriend of Juniper." Young Grover gaped.

A boy that seemed slightly like a Latino Santa elf with a green jacket, a yellow tool belt and jeans stepped forward. He smirked at everyone before waving his hand up into the air. "Hey everybody! Leo Valdez, Son of Hephaestus, Fire-user, One of the Seven, Hero of Olympus, and Supreme Commander of the Argo II at your service!" He did a mocking bow, and the next girl did a face-palm.

"Repair boy," she muttered, causing him to scowl. She was a beautiful Cherokee, and had choppy brown hair and gorgeous kaleidoscope eyes, and wore a blue ski jacket with skinny jeans and boots. She smiled brightly. "Piper McLean, Daughter of Aphrodite, Charm speaker, One of the Seven, Hero of Olympus, Girlfriend of Jason Grace" Apollo gave a wolf-whistle and Aphrodite smiled proudly at her beautiful daughter as she blushed.

A scrawny boy stepped forward; he had pale, greasy blonde hair and blue eyes and smiled cruelly at everyone. Some noticed he looked like… Luke. "Octavian, Legacy of Apollo, Augur of Camp Jupiter." No freaking comment.

:"Wait a minute, Romans and Greeks... together!?" Hermes asked, disbelief on his face.

"The future's messed up," The demigods said together.

"Wait, Romans?" Young Annabeth asked.

"Yup" the future demigods said cheerfully.

The next person stepped forward before they could ask anymore questions. She was quite tall, and had her dark black hair braided down her back. She had dark eyes and had her head held high, smiling. She wore a dark purple toga with medals pinned on it. "Reyna, Daughter of Bellona, Sailor of the Sea of Monsters, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Hero of Olympus."

The next was a Chinese/Canadian boy with a baby face and huge muscles that definitely didn't go together. He wore a blue sweatshirt and jeans and smiled shyly "Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, Legacy of Poseidon, Shape shifter, Defeater of Alycloneus, One of the Seven, Hero of Olympus, Boyfriend of Hazel Levesque," Everyone gaped when he said shape shifter.

The next girl had long curly red hair, glowing green eyes, and freckles dancing over her nose. She wore a 'Go Green' T-shirt and skinny jeans that strangely enough had writing all over them, along with green converses. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Delphi, Wanderer of the Labyrinth, Hero of Olympus."

Apollo jumped up. "MY ORACLE GETS A NEW BODY!" He grinned like a maniac, and Rachel blushed.

The remaining demigods exchanged nervous glances.

"Well? Introduce yourselves!" Zeus demanded.

They glanced at each other again, before pushing forward Thalia. "Why me!?" she asked nervously.

"They already know about you!" Percy reason, leaving everyone confused. What did he mean? "Now go!"

She had spiky black hair, electric blue eyes that seemed to electrocute you, and a few freckles on her nose. In her hair was a silver tiara, and she was glowing slightly silver. She had a silver parka, and skinny jeans with hiking boots, and looked pretty athletic like she ran around all day. "Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus, Lieutenant Huntress of Artemis, Hero of Olympus." She smiled as everyone gaped.

"But your a tree!" Luke, who the older demigods hadn't noticed, shouted. The older demigods faces darkened at the sight of him.

"Percy saved me after someone poisoned me." At someone, she looked pointedly at Luke, while everyone stared.

"Thank you, young hero." Zeus said to Percy, causing everyone to gawk. "What, I pay my debts... sometimes."

The last four looked at each other, coming to a silent agreement. "You have to swear on the River Styx you won't vaporize us when we tell you who we are." Percy demanded in such a powerful voice it was almost like charm speak. The gods agreed.

Nico stepped forward. He had longish black hair, olive skin, and an aviator's jacket with a long black sword at his side. His eyes were so black it was spooky. "Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades, Wandered of the Labyrinth, Ambassador of Pluto, Ghost King, Hero of Olympus, but my dad didn't break the oath because I was kept in the Lotus Hotel and Casino."

"It's still illegal because Zeus said to kill you." Percy mumbled, but was ignored.

The next girl had cocoa skin, curly hair, and bright golden eyes. She had a slightly innocent look to her and couldn't have been any older than thirteen. She wore a golden T-Shirt and jeans with grey converse. "Hazel Levesque, Daughter of Pluto, One of the Seven, Hero of Olympus, Girlfriend of Frank Zhang."

Zeus was about to open his mouth, but was interrupted by Hades saying. "But... you're dead!"

Everyone gaped. "You'll find out later." She muttered weakly, and Frank put an arm around her shoulders.

The next boy had sky blue eyes and cropped blonde hair with a scar on his upper lip. He had a slight air of authority, and wore a T-shirt that said 'I got the power!' He was well-built and muscled, and smiled smugly before starting "Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter, Killer of the Trojan Sea Monster, Slayer of Krios, One of the Seven, Hero of Olympus, and Boyfriend of Piper McLean." He smirked as everyone stared, while Reyna scowled at the boyfriend thing.

Before Hades or Poseidon could yell, the next boy stepped forward. He had vibrant, gorgeous yet powerful sea green eyes that held a huge amount of love, tousled, windswept raven black locks, -not 'I've never seen a comb hair', but 'I just finished showering hair'-, a perfect tan, faultless features, and a six pack that was visible even though it was obvious he didn't try to show it. He was at least six feet, and seemed to give of an aura of power, trust, and kindness. He was obviously very athletic like he spent his days fighting monsters. He looked extremely hot, but innocent at the same time, but you could tell by his eyes he'd seen lots of sadness. He was wearing a navy blue T-shirt with a striped jacket and blue jeans with black converses. The way the light glinted behind him gave him the flawless look of an angel with his striking features and handsome face, yet you could tell he was more than just a pretty boy. He smiled a dazzling white smile, revealing a rebellious, troublemaker smile. "Ok, just a warning, this may take a while." The others who knew him nodded, while the goddesses continued to stare, yet the boy remained obliviously innocent. "Okay, so Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon," the gods gasped. "Defeater of the Furies and the Minotaur twice, Retriever of Zeus's bolt and Hades Helm, Defeater of Ares, Sailor of the Sea of Monsters, Defeater of the Hydra, Retriever of the Golden Fleece, Defeater of the Nemean Lion, Bearer of the sky, Defeater of Anteaus, Wanderer of the Labyrinth, Defeater of Phobos and Deimos, Retriever of Ares Chariot, Retriever of the Sword of Hades, ex-holder of the Curse of Achilles, Defeater of a whole butt-load of monsters, Child of the Prophecy, Defeater of Atlas, Iapetus, Hyperion, and Kronos, Defeater of Cacus, Retriever of Hermes Caduceus, Defeater of Polybotes, One of the Seven, Hero of Olympus, Boyfriend of Annabeth Chase." He paused for breath, "That's it, right?" he asked, oblivious to all the stares he was getting. Luke glared. Poseidon beamed at his son. Jason scowled at the fact that he was beaten.

Annabeth smiled at his cluelessness. "You forgot that you're a Seaweed Brain."

Percy grinned, "Well you forgot you're a Wise Girl." They had just started kissing when Thalia shouted. "WARNING! CHILDREN PRESENT!" and they broke apart, blushes just beginning to creep onto there faces.

"Young demigods?" Zeus questioned, still stunned by Percy.

"Travis and Conner Stoll, Sons of Hermes." The Stolls high-fived their younger counterparts..

"Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena." The Stolls wiggled their eyebrows at Percy who gave them his deluxe 'I'll kill you later' stare. They had to get new pants, which thankfully, they had extras. They got that look a lot.

"Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares."

"Chris Rodriguez, Son of Hermes."

"Charlie Beckendorf, Son of Hephaestus." The future demigods saddened. Percy clenched his fists looking down and Annabeth hugged him from behind.

"Silena Beauregard, Daughter of Aphrodite." More sorrow. Clarisse looked down and Chris grabbed her hand.

"Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes." Cue glares. Annabeth put a hand on Percy's shoulder to restrain him, but no one noticed. They still hadn't truly forgiven him.

"Grover Underwood, Satyr." Everyone grinned at their friend.

"Katie Gardner, Daughter of Demeter."

"Will Solace Son of Apollo."

"Ethan Nakamura, Unclaimed." Percy stared at his toes and the demigods glanced at him sympathetically. Ethan saved his life and died for it.

"Lee Fletcher, Son of Apollo" More grief.

"Michael Yew, Son of Apollo" Percy felt like collapsing. The only thing keeping him stable right now was Annabeth's arms around him.

"Castor and Pollux, Sons of Dionysus." Even sadder. Percy was shaking at this point.

"Is that all." The demigods nodded. Zeus snapped his fingers and couches appeared, four people per couch. Annabeth, Percy, Thalia and Nico sat on one. Reyna, Leo, Jason, and Piper. Will, Katie, Travis, Conner. Clarisse, Chris, Hazel Frank. Rachel, Grover, and Octavian on the last one.

"Wait..." Nico interrupted. "Where are the books?"

"Probably the box" Athena said, being the goddess of wisdom she is.

At that moment, it seemed as if the box shook. Everyone jumped on their couch. The demigods glanced at each other, before pushing Percy forward and off the couch.

"Hey! Why me?"

They glanced at each other before deadpanning. "You're Percy."

Percy scowled, muttering about worthless friends, but approached the box nonetheless.

BOOM!

At the moment he touched it, out popped a...

A kid.

The boy seemed to be about seven, was wearing a long sleeved navy blue jacket, and a bright blue shirt. He had worn jeans and dirty shoes, and extremely messy, gravity defying yet adorable jet black hair. He seemed sort of small and underfed, but still pretty freaking adorable. He looked at Percy with big, innocent, sea-green doe eyes. "Who are you? You look like an older me! Are you my brother? I always wanted a brother. Are you gonna beat up Gabe?" Percy put a hand over the boy's mouth, but his eyes were wide.

"Hey Perce, do you have a brother?" Thalia asked, wondering if Percy had lied about being an only child too.

Percy swallowed. "No..." he looked at them all. "It's seven year old me."

Suddenly, older Percy's hand withdrew quickly as if he'd been hit, and young Percy shouted. "You're me? Awesome, I look like a freaking superhero!"

"You licked me!" Older Percy exclaimed.

Young Percy smirked. "Well you are me, so no harm done." Everyone snickered.

"Whoa! Giant people! Hey!" he pointed at Annabeth, "She has pretty princess hair!" older Percy and both Annabeths blushed. "And..." he trailed off, looking directly at Poseidon "Dad." It wasn't a question.

Poseidon smiled. "Percy."

Young Percy's face broke out into a grin, ignoring the surprised looks of the other gods over the fact he recognized his dad, as he sprinted straight into his dad's arms, hugging him. Poseidon stiffened, not used to hugs, before hugging back.

"I knew you cared. I knew Gabe was wrong." He mumbled into Poseidon's chest. Poseidon smiled slightly.

Suddenly, young Percy backed up. "You... you left us with Gabe..."

"Percy-"

Percy continued backing up, shaking his head, lower lip trembling. "You left us. You left me and mom and now we..." he trailed of, and his voice cracked.

"Percy, I'm sorry. I do care, but..." he looked at the gods for a moment before looking back. "What do you know about the Greek Gods?"

Percy looked at him warily. "Yeah, mom tells me stories all the time..." he looked down. "Like how you guys named me Pursues so I'd have a happy ending like him..." he looked down, before looking back at his dad. "Why?"

"Because their real. And I'm Poseidon. I had to leave because I had to make sure the seas were under control." he said, gazing sadly at Percy.

"Oh..." Percy sighed. He found his shoes interesting all of a sudden. Older Percy gazed at him sympathetically; he knew what was going on at home now that would make him feel that way.

"Well this is awkward." Hades broke the silence, and everyone turned to him. "What?"

"YOU RUINED A BONDING MOMENT YOU IDIOT!" Hera screeched, causing everyone to cover their ears in order to keep their hearing.

Percy stepped forward. "Hey Little Me? What did you just get expelled for, and what kind of school?"

Little Percy blushed. "My second military school… blew up the gym playing basketball." he mumbled, embarrassed.

"Yup, you're seven." Percy grinned cheekily.

"How does a seven year old blow up a military school gym playing basketball?" Reyna asked.

"Reyna, this is Percy we're talking about." Hazel said, and everyone laughed.

After explaining everything to Little Percy, aka, P.J. who was currently sitting next to Poseidon on a couch, everyone got comfy and ready to read. But first…

Flash!

A bright light flared up, taking up the whole room, seemingly around Percy, and leaving behind a note.

Annabeth picked it up.

_Dear people,_

_Okay, we decided to spice this up a little bit. From now on, whatever Percy feels in the books, will be felt by Percy now. Don't worry, it will only be older Percy, we just thought it would be cool for you to see first hand what happened. Sorry favorite demigod. _

_From,_

_The Awesomest god Apollo (Who didn't agree to this)_

_The Fates_

_P.S. –Sorry about a few… people coming. Good luck in the future. You'll need it._

Everyone gasped, wondering how someone could be so cruel. They all knew Percy felt a lot of pain, and definitely didn't want him to feel it again. Annabeth's hands were shaking, Thalia and Nico felt their eyes watering, the gods were gaping like fish, the younger demigods were trembling, Hazel's eyes were closed, Frank was in shock, Reyna's breath hitched, and everyone's reactions varied.

But none took it worse than Percy.

It's pretty obvious why he didn't like it. Currently, he had his knees up to his chest, arms around his knees, face paler than Nico's and Hades. He was trembling, his fists clenched together, his head on his knees, feeling like he was going to cry. Annabeth quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulders, trying to calm him down.

"Percy, it's going to be okay... You won't die just... hurt."

"Nice pep talk," Thalia mumbled, trying to break the tension, which didn't work for anyone, even herself.

Percy swallowed. "Let's..." his voice cracked, "Let's get this over with." He paused. "What are the book titles?"

"The Lightning Thief," Percy, Annabeth and Grover winced, "The Sea of Monsters." More wincing, Clarisse included this time. "The Titans Curse," Percy and Nico paled, and Annabeth put a hand on Percy's arm, gripping it tightly while Thalia patted Nico's shoulder awkwardly, while Thalia and Grover winced too, "The Battle of the Labyrinth." More winces. "And the Last Olympian." At this point, Percy's eyes were closed tight and Annabeth was hugging him tight. This was bad for them to remember. "The Demigod Files-"

"Excuse me, what?" Katie asked, looking at Percy and Annabeth, before raising an eyebrow. "What's this?"

Percy had a quizzical look on his face too. "Hand it over." Zeus grumbled at be commanded to do something, but did. "The Stolen Chariot," Percy smirked and Clarisse glared. "The Sword of Hades," Thalia, Nico, and Percy exchanged looks, while the gods looked at Hades, "And the Bronze Dragon," Leo grinned, while Percy and Annabeth paled.

"Uh-oh…" Percy mumbled, looking at Thalia and Nico. "Keres poison…" they paled to, remembering when Percy got cut.

"That's gonna stink…" Nico muttered and Thalia whacked him.

"Wait, what?" Annabeth asked.

"Let's just move on!" Percy exclaimed, still really pale. He handed the books to Zeus.

"The Demigod Diaries," the demigods understood these were mini-quests "The Lost Hero," everyone glared at Hera, while Jason smiled, people would hear his adventures, "The Son of Neptune," Percy, Hazel, and Frank high fived, "And the Mark of Athena." The demigods looked confused.

"Huh?"

"That's the future Giant War?" Annabeth suggested. The others shrugged.

"Then there's the House of Hades…" everyone looked confused.

"Still future?" Annabeth suggested again. Everyone just nodded.

Zeus nodded, and started reading. **"The Lightning Thief..."**

**Bum budda dum dum duuum!**

**How was that? Good? Bad? In-between? Do you even care!? Whatever. I got some stories to type.**

**Bye Bye!**

**-Hannah or PJO (Did ya notice my user spells PJO? Well now you did!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guyz!**

**Okay, so I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about this writing. It's like… mage long. I don't get why when people write, they do it like, every seven paragraphs unless it's in some mega long description. Like when Chiron explains the world of demigods to Percy.**

**I got a T-shirt that says Seaweed Brain on it! I'm so excited! I wear it on TV tomorrow. (You heard me). I'm gonna be on TV to sing with my school choir. BWAHAHAHA!**

**Anyways, I know Jason is a little different, but Percy did mention a little bit of resentment in the Mark of Athena between the two of them, so… Yeah. And it's kinda romantic-y, but whatever. I plan on bringing in Tartarus Percy and Annabeth eventually, not sure when. Gonna be terrifying to see their reactions. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. **

**Oh, and for all of you who are worried, Percy will be okay! Yeah, he'll hurt, but I'm gonna put a few happy twists in there with the curse. Mehehehe. Besides, he's Percy. He can survive anything.**

**Enjoy! Thanks for the reviews!**

**Song I'm listening to**:** Misery Business by Paramore**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson… except in my dreams.**

Just as Zeus was about to read, another bright flash of light came, leaving in place 4 people. Everyone recognized them, however. They were none other than Hercules, Perseus, Orion, and Theseus. They stood proud, and bowed down before the gods' feet.

The demigods stared at them, as they looked up to see the demigods, and they looked at them quizzically.

Hercules stepped forward, thinking he was the greatest hero ever. "Father? Who are they? Do you need our aid once again? Why are these younger demigods here?" He asked, staring at them.

The Gods exchanged looks, as the demigods began muttering amongst themselves. What the heck were these bozos doing here?

"Heroes of Greece-" Zeus started, finally coming to a decision- "It seems as if the Fates wish for you to read with us." He said. He then proceeded to go down the lines of names, and explaining the whole predicament, not giving the titles for they wanted to surprise them all about Percy.

"… So, why don't you say your names to the demigods?" Zeus finished, and the Heroes exchanged looks, before nodding.

First came Orion. "Orion, Son of Poseidon, and… well, you know the rest…" he said smugly, winking at Artemis, causing her and Apollo to glare.

Next came Theseus, "Theseus, Son of Poseidon, you should know my tale as well," Dionysus and Percy glared. Dionysus knew what he did to his wife, Adrianne. Percy glared, reminded of the time Dionysus told him the story.

"Perseus, Son of Zeus." Percy smiled slightly, thankfully out of that funk thanks to the surprise of the heroes popping up, but frowned at the smugness of the man's voice.

"And Hercules, Son of Zeus," It took almost all the demigods to restrain Percy, and Apollo had to restrain Artemis from killing him as well. Hercules blinked; surprised someone would want to hurt him. P.J. was staring at them all, surprised.

"Percy, look at me-"Annabeth started, grabbing the sides of his smooth tan face so his gorgeous sea-green orbs would meet her intense grey ones. "She's dead. I know he's a selfish, annoying, egoistical-" she shook her head, snapping herself out of her insult rant, "But you can't get back at him for what he did to Zoe."

Percy sighed, looking down and swallowing, before nodding, but glaring harshly at Hercules who had paled when he heard Zoe Hercules winced at Percy's extremely scary glare, almost peeing his pants. The futures knew that Percy was giving one of his worst, 'You mess with my friends, I mess up your face' glare, which was just about his scariest in his alignment of glares.

"Zoe? Zoe Nightshade?" Artemis asked, snapped out of her attack when he said that. "You know her?"

Percy looked her sadly in the eyes, and nodded, green orbs looking depressed. "Yeah…" He said his voice soft. "I knew her…" he trailed off, and the gods decided it wasn't a good time to talk about it.

Zeus cleared his throat. "Well…" he paused awkwardly, glancing at Percy. "Let's begin then..."

**"I accidentally vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher," **Zeus started.

"How do you accidentally vaporize someone?" Nico asked, lightening the mood.

"It was an accident! I swear!" Percy exclaimed, causing everyone to snicker.

"Obviously, you ask Percy to do it for you!" Conner answered the question, grinning.

"Yeah, cause he can do anything!" Travis finished, causing Percy to roll his eyes.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

"Why would you?" Chris asked, causing the older demigods to nod sadly, as the younger ones stared at them thinking, 'What happened?'

P.J. asked the question "What happened?" he asked bluntly.

The futures automatically looked down sadly, closing their eyes tight, and Percy clenched his fists as the others glanced at him sympathetically. He was the center of this after all.

Percy currently had an emotionless expression on his face, looking down at his hands, eyes closed as he relived the many battles of the war. His knuckles were white and he was shaking slightly, hands gripping the couch tightly. Annabeth worriedly put a hand on his shoulder, and he smiled at her, grateful for her just being there, especially with the books curse and the next war coming.

The old heroes stared at them. What did happen to make them react this way?

Jason scowled, wanting to get his jealousy out any way he could, turning to P.J. "Are you an idiot?" he asked P.J., who glared. He was tired of being called that at school because he couldn't read as well as other kids in his grade, and by Gabe.

"No, but obviously you are since your stooping so low as to pick on a mere seven year old when you're fifteen." He snapped, and Jason glared as everyone else snickered. The younger Stolls high fived him.

"I like little you." Clarisse laughed, and Percy grinned a pearly white smile at her, as everyone else glared at Jason while snickering, mad he picked on P.J., but laughing because P.J. got back at hm.

"I like the kid!" Hermes grinned, as Apollo nodded in agreement.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:**

"No! Don't listen to his advice unless it's some sort of emotional speech or a battle plan! Other wise it'll get you killed!" Nico exclaimed, and the Lost Hero trio looked at him weirdly, while Jason smiled smugly.

The others would have defended Percy, who was pouting cutely, making him look innocent and adorable (both of them), but it was one hundred percent true.

"He does give good emotional speeches though…" Frank added, think back to the time Percy told him they needed him. Percy grinned at him for the support.

**close this book right now.**

The Stolls jumped onto Zeus lap, grabbed the book, and shut it tight, before flinging it across the room, only to hit Octavian in the face, sliding of his greasy hair and onto Leo, who almost set it on fire but thanks to Percy's awesome fireproof powers and water abilities, it survived, however, was sent flying into the air, hitting the Stolls who had been electrocuted by Zeus and sent flying, sending it in the direction of Hercules, who bat it away towards Hazel, who screamed and made a jewel come up so it hit Luke, who punched it with a fist, which missed, so it hit his shoulder, bouncing of onto Silena's lap, who gave a yelp and sent it flying towards Hephaestus's face, but it was repelled by his ugliness and landed back open on the page on Zeus's lap.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Percy, Apollo, Hermes, P.J, both Stolls, Chris, Leo, and Nico shouted, laughing their head off. Thalia rolled her eyes, whacking Percy on the back of the head, who just laughed harder, nudging her with his shoulder so she laughed, as Jason stared on jealously. It was his sister. Young Annabeth gaped. Thalia wasn't so close to anyone, not even her. Meanwhile, Leo was whacked by Piper, and the Stoll's went wobbling to their chairs from the impact of the wall they had made by Zeus's electricity, only to be whacked by Katie.

**Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"Not that bad." Athena grudgingly admitted, as everyone gaped. "What! It's true! It might actually work."

Percy took this chance while she was in a good mood. "Do you approve of me and Annabeth's relationship?" Percy pleaded with a sudden burst of confidence, with bug puppy dog eyes. Athena looked away from the adorable face, while everyone gaped at the adorableness.

"Well, I haven't vaporized you, have I?" Athena said, not looking at his face so she wouldn't have to admit the face worked, even thought it was obvious. The gods gaped. No one could convince Athena by looks. But even Artemis wanted to run up and hug him with the big, innocent sea-green eyes, watering slightly, his lower lip trembling.

Percy's face broke out into a grin. "HADES YEAH!" He exclaimed, and Annabeth rolled her eyes, kissing his cheek. The goddesses and girl demigods cooed, as the younger demigods went 'eeww'. Percy smiled even wider, wrapping his arms around her as she sat on his lap, leaning into his warm chest.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"Yup…" The demigods muttered and the gods winced.

"Is it really that bad?'

**It's scary.**

"Yup…" the demigods added depressed, and the gods winced once more.

"Really?"

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"And yup…" Percy finished for them all, clenching his fists so hard they turned white. Annabeth curled up into him more, and Percy smiled down at her, thankful for the support.

"I guess it is…" Apollo muttered, and Artemis whacked him in the back of the head. The gods looked down, and the demigods wouldn't meet their eyes.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

"Don't we all…" Nico muttered, and the other demigods sighed dejectedly. The gods sighed. They never acted like they cared but they did. They just couldn't show it. Maybe now was a chance to become friends with their children.

Percy, meanwhile, was contemplating something. Maybe, after hearing his story, they'd care more for their children and things could be better. They could have better lives. Percy smiled softly to himself at the thought.

Annabeth looked up at him, surprised to see him smiling. "You okay, Seaweed Brain?" she asked, worrying for his mental health.

He nodded, kissing the top of her head lightly.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"You make it sound like someone's gonna kill you," Apollo snickered but the demigods just replied with…

"There's always someone." Needless to say, the snickering stopped.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't warn us." The Stolls, Leo, and Nico chirped, only to be doused immensely by water, sputtering and coming face to face with to angry Percys.

Percy raised an eyebrow and P.J. followed suit. The offenders gulped. No one wants any Percy induced wrath.

Percy, arms still crossed, sat back down with Annabeth on his lap, P.J by his side, Thalia snickering as Nico glanced warily at Percy, who turned to him to give him one last warning.

"I'm still mad that you didn't remind me who I was." Percy said, and Nico swallowed. Percy gestured for Zeus to continue.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"No. It's Zeus." Hermes smirked at the same time the Percys both yelled. "NO! I'M PERCY JACKSON!" and grinned at the likeness of each other. Some things never change.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

"One boarding school of many." Percy added, sighing.

P.J. looked at him. "Better than staying home though, right?" he asked referring to something they had never told anyone else, not even their mother. Percy winced, and agreed.

The futures stared at him in shock. He loved his mother, so why would he say he wouldn't like going home and would rather be at boarding school? They looked at seven year old Percy, suddenly seeing a few deep cuts and bruises, the fact that he kept tugging his jacket, wincing when he moved every so often, how he made sure to hide certain parts of his face with his messy hair, the way he flinched before making contact with people, the skinniness of him. Maybe Percy had been hiding something from them.

They came to an abrupt realization. Percy had never told them about his childhood. They always knew his mom was awesome; they spent the night at his house often. But whenever they would ask for stories from his youth to cheer them up since they all had bad pasts, he'd get a tortured look in his eyes and immediately change the subject. So what was with the injuries? Bullies? That had to be it. At least, they hoped.

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Yep!" the demigods chirped, Jason and Luke the loudest causing the others to glare at their happiness with the insult. Luke and Jason scowled, why did everyone love Percy?

The Percys, meanwhile, only shrugged. It was true, he was troubled. His life was, anyways.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

"You agree!" Hermes laughed, and the gods looked at them weirdly, along with the heroes. Percy rolled his eyes.

"I never said I didn't." he said, laughing as Hermes huffed and crossed his arms like a child.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it,**

"Short?" The gods asked, and the demigods winced.

"Miserable?" The heroes asked, causing the demigods to wince again. Percy nodded.

"I most likely won't see my seventeenth birthday at this rate…" he mumbled, and Annabeth squeezed his hand. The gods and heroes stared at him as Poseidon hyperventilated over his favorite son dying.

Nico, in attempt to cheer them up, grinned and said. "You'll live alright. You're Percy Jackson, you can't die! I mean, you did barge in on your own funeral." He said, and the god, young demigods, and heroes stared at Percy in shock, as he laughed.

"The looks on your faces when I did that!" he laughed some more, and Annabeth scowled at the memory. She whacked his head, but he didn't wince, even without the curse of Achilles.

"We thought you were dead, Seaweed Brain! It wasn't funny!" she snapped, and Percy rolled his eyes.

"I'm here now." He grinned, and gave Annabeth a peck on the lips, as she immediately brightened, and young Annabeth and P.J. blushed.

P.J., meanwhile, was wondering if his future self was mentally stable. Walking in on your won funeral? Awkward.

**But things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"That sounds wonderful!" Annabeth and Athena said, eyes gleaming. They smiled at each other.

"No, sounds like torture," Percy, P.J., Poseidon, Theseus, and Orion said, Percy, P.J, and Poseidon smiling while Theseus and Orion scowled thinking about Percy's thoughts being like theirs. Annabeth whacked Percy in the back of the head.

**I know-it sounds like torture.**

"Well… he did say he was mental-cased!" Dionysus suggested to a fuming Athena, as everyone else stared at him in shock. "What, I'm the god of insanity. When I hear those words, I listen!" he snapped, going back to his 'Wine Weekly'.

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

"True." Grover and Percy said, fist bumping each other. P.J and Young Grover smiled at each other, happy to finally have a friend.

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

"Hades yeah!" Percy and Grover pumped a fist in the air, and Annabeth rolled her eyes, muttering about Percy being a Seaweed brain, cuddling into his chest. Poseidon chuckled at his son.

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.**

Chiron perked up. This man sounded like him. Percy was powerful, so perhaps he made a house-call. The other demigods were thinking the same thing.

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool,**

"Hey!" Chiron huffed, and Percy smiled at his mentor.

"Don't worry. You're the best teacher ever. Like a second father. You're a better teacher than my step-father, even." Percy grinned, and Poseidon mouthed 'thank you' to Chiron for being there for his son, who smiled at Poseidon and beamed at Percy.

Meanwhile, P.J. had a thought. "Step-Father? Gabe actually gets off his lazy butt for something other than making my life miserable?" He asked Percy, who flinched at the reminder of his old step-father.

"Nope. New Step-Father. His name's Paul. The English teacher." Poseidon frowned from jealousy, and P.J. jumped from the couch, grinning like a maniac.

"Gabe's gone! Gabe's gone!" he did a cute little happy dance, causing the goddesses to coo, before turning back to Percy. "Just… poof?"

"Poof."

"Poof?"

"Poof."

"Poof?"

"Poo-"

"WE GET IT! HE WENT POOF!" Hades shouted, annoyed. Leo and the Stolls snickered.

"He said poo." Everyone rolled their eyes at their immaturity.

Meanwhile, the futures were thinking again. Percy never mentioned Gabe. And making his life miserable? This was raising suspicions.

**but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"It's Chiron!" Leo shouted, and the others rolled their eyes.

Piper whacked him. "No dib, Repair Boy!" she snapped, and he let out a huff.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

"Not gonna happen." Hazel, Frank, Clarisse, Rachel, Grover, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico scoffed at him.

"Hey!" Percy shouted, and they rolled their eyes.

"We've been on a quest with you." Hazel told him seriously. "You always cause trouble."

"Prove it." Percy said, glaring.

"Glacier, Phineas, Hyperboreans, Lanstrogi-"

"Fine, fine." Percy sighed, and the others looked smug.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

"As always…" Rachel chimed, and Percy turned to her.

"Not you too!" he whined, pouting. She smirked.

"Name a time you were right, and I'll be on your side." She said, hands on her hips, legs crossed towards the ground as she leaned back in anticipation.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Anteaus." He said, referring to his plan to beat him. Rachel paled, remembering that was her fault in the first place.

"Never mind," she said, as Poseidon paled. Percy was going to meet his other son?

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. **

"Accident?" everyone questioned. Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"War!" Ares and the Clarisses screamed at the same time, and everyone rolled their eyes.

**I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

Silence. And then…

Everyone burst out laughing. A few even fell onto the floor with laughter. They really like this kid and his rebelliousness.

"He has to be, like, a legacy of me." Hermes and Apollo said at eh same time. "He'd be an awesome descendant." They stared at each other. "Stop that!" they snapped. "No you! Just- You- URGH!" Everyone laughed harder.

Percy, while laughing, was thoughtful. Didn't Iris say something about being apart of both Greek and Roman? And how could he already speak Latin?

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

Everyone laughed harder, and both sets of Stolls high fived him. The Stolls grinned.

"And that, my friends, is why we always bring Percy pranking with us, and wish he were our brother." They said, and everyone laughed even more.

"Dude! You are the coolest!" Leo shouted, and Percy blushed, while laughing at the same time. Annabeth kissed his cheek; he was cute when he blushed.

Jason glared. Leo was his friend, and he thought Percy was cooler than him. He, Jason Grace, was supposedly not as cool as Percy Jackson. _Pfft_ he thought _Yeah right._

Luke was glaring also. His siblings preferred Percy to him. This is why he resented the gods. His father left him, and his siblings preferred an idiotic Son of Poseidon.

**And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**

"Aww…" everyone, even Athena and Dionysus, whined. They enjoyed Percy's rebelliousness and awesome pranking skills.

"Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm sure there's more later," he said, and everyone grinned. "And if there isn't, me and P.J. will tell you some other stories." He added as an afterthought, and everyone grinned more.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Dude, your jinxing it." Nico said, and Percy rolled his eyes.

"He's right Perce, ewe did I just say that?" Katie blanched.

"Hey, what's wrong with thinking like me!" Nico asked, glaring.

"You're an emo in denial, Dead Boy!" she exclaimed, voice getting high pitched.

"Oh yeah! Well You're-"

"Oh my gods, you're like mini versions of your parents." Poseidon sighed, and Hades and Demeter glared.

"We aren't that-"

"Yes you are." The gods said, almost as if they rehearsed it. Hades and Demeter scowled.

"It's better than you three." Hestia chirped, pointing to the Big Three. They rolled their eyes.

"Zeus starts it." Poseidon and Hades chorused. Zeus glared.

"No, its Hades constant whining that starts it." Zeus snapped. Hades was about to reply, but Poseidon used this opportunity to throw something in.

"Actually, it's the fact that your paranoid and over dramatic." Poseidon said, and Hades looked smug.

"I wouldn't be one to talk Mr. Oh So Laid Back. You should really be more careful." Zeus added, and Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"Zeus, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean we have to be." Hades fought back, and Zeus's face flushed.

"Well-"

"OH MY GODS! Enough fighting! Look, your kids are acting like mini yous." Athena said with an eye roll.

Sure enough, Percy, Thalia, and Nico were in an argument.

"-dad's gonna win because he's the coolest." Nico was saying, and Thalia and Percy rolled their eyes.

"No way, my dad's the freaking king of the gods." Thalia said smugly.

"Please, my dad's the coolest. He doesn't zap you when you go over the ocean." Percy grinned, and Thalia and Nico glared.

"So? My dad's still the awesomest." They both snapped, and glared at each other.

"Sure. You're parents are afraid of my dad. Why do you think I'm alive?" Percy asked, and the others scoffed

"Why would they be afraid of your dad?" Thalia asked, and Percy smirked.

"Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. The ocean. My dad could freaking beat your dads to a pulp. Not to mention the Typhon incident…" Percy trailed off, and they glared.

"Yeah well-"

"Gods! You three are the worst arguers ever!" Annabeth scowled, and they stared at her innocently.

"We aren't that bad." They said in unison.

"Actually, we three aren't as bad as just Thalia and Percy. You two almost tore apart the forest in an argument over Capture the Flag." Nico said, and the two rolled their eyes.

"It wasn't… okay it was," Percy and Thalia grumbled, and Annabeth snuggled back into Percy's arms.

The gods blinked. They were exactly like their parents. P.J., throughout the argument, had moved towards the younger demigods and was currently sitting by younger Annabeth, who was blushing.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit,**

Percy made a growling noise in the back of his throat, and Annabeth looked at him worriedly.

**the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover**

"Best Friend?" younger Grover asked, surprised someone cool would be his friend.

"Anytime, G-man." Percy said, doing an elaborate handshake with older Grover, while young Grover and P.J. smiled at each other.

**in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

This time, both Percy's growled, protective of their friends, and the Annabeths put a hand on each of their shoulders, younger Annabeth awkwardly.

P.J. whirled to face her, shocked, and Annabeth blushed, retracting her hand. "I-"

"No, it's okay." P.J. smiled weakly at her, blushing as well. "I just… it's nothing…" he trailed of, finding his thumbs interesting.

She smiled at him, holding out her hand. "Wanna be friends? I mean, it's obvious by that-" She jerked her head towards the older versions, which were currently cuddling on the couch. "-That we're more than friends. But… I mean…" her face was beat red as she looked away, but P.J. smiled at her.

"Sure-" he said, and she turned to face him, staring into his beautiful sea-green eyes. Just now realizing that they had many flecks of beautiful blues and stunning silvers and gorgeous golds and vibrant greens with a ring of gold around his pupil –the sunflower effect, she had read somewhere- and colors making it glint like the ocean, changing with his moods as if the sun's rays were shining through the ocean, as he marveled at her intense grey ones like hurricanes., swirling with bright grays and intimidating silvers –"Of course we can be friends." They stared at each other for a while, until they realized the book had started up again.

**Grover was an easy target. **

"Hey!" Grover exclaimed, and Percy smiled sheepishly.

"Well, it was true." Grover huffed, and the others began to worry about their own descriptions.

**He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.**

"Nice to know how you think of me." Grover huffed, glaring at Percy, but winced as he saw Percy scowling, more at himself than anything, looking like he wanted nothing more than to throw this book to Hades. He knew Percy had a temper, and often got mad at himself as well.

"Sorry." Percy mumbled, and Grover nodded, smiling slightly.

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"Wow, just wow…" Leo muttered, and Thalia whacked Grover in the head.

"Goat Boy! You're gonna give yourself away!" she snapped, and Grover muttered her an apology.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. **

"What did you do this time?" Katie asked him, eyebrow raised.

"Oh… lemme think… that was… Oh yeah, fireworks display in the gym. Didn't work out very well…" Percy trailed off, and the Stolls high fived him.

"Awesome dude!" Leo and The Stolls exclaimed, and Luke and Jason scowled. Their supposed to be the coolest. Piper stared at Percy weirdly. Annabeth wasn't kidding when she said Percy got into a lot of trouble.

"What are fireworks?" Theseus asked. Everyone ignored him.

**The headmaster had threatened me with death **

"What!" Poseidon yelled. "They dare-" Zeus continued before he could finish.

**by in-school suspension**

"Oh…" Poseidon mumbled, and Zeus snickered at him.

"DEATH!" Hades and Nico chuckled sadistically, and everyone looked at them weirdly.

**if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Seriously?" The gods, heroes, and demigods asked. Percy nodded.

"Yeah. I could've been freeing Death in Alaska and they would've expelled me if someone spilled their coffee at Starbucks." Percy said with an eye roll, as the Romans -excluding Jason- cracked up. Everyone looked at them weirdly.

"It's funny, because he did that." Frank pointed out, and everyone stared at Percy in shock. He meanwhile, was glaring at nothing.

"Why do people blame me? Everyone does it!" he huffed, and Annabeth kissed him on the cheek.

"Because you're so awesome you could get away with it." She said, pulling him in for a kiss. Thalia pushed their chests apart.

"Once again. CHILDREN PRESENT!" She snapped, and they blushed again.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Do it!" Ares and the Clarisses shouted, as the Stolls, Leo, Nico, Apollo, and Hermes shouted "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Needless to say, they got whacked.

"Whipped." Percy and Poseidon muttered. They got whacked too by a certain goddess of wisdom and her daughter.

Artemis, meanwhile, was thoughtful. "You'd hit a girl?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

Percy shrugged. "Depends, really. If they were being a bully to my friend or were evil then yes, I would. I mean, you'd hit Gaea, wouldn't you?" Percy asked, "But otherwise, no. Girls aren't meant to be hit. Which is why I am willing to hit Clarisse." He smirked, and the Clarisses and Ares let out a growl, while Artemis stared at him in awe. _He isn't like other boys… _she thought to herself, smiling with pride along with Hera and Hestia.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"Not as much as Tyson." Percy added, and the futures laughed, as Frank yelled. "PEANUT BUTTER!"

Annabeth turned to him. "How did you-"

"-know his battle cry? We had a battle at Camp Jupiter and won, thanks to Percy over there." He grinned cheekily, before turning to Percy. "Didn't we Mr. I'm gonna shove a god up your nose?" he asked, and Percy blushed and muttered something.

"What was that?" Frank asked.

"I said zip it you Chinese Canadian Baby Man." Percy snapped, and Frank blushed as everyone laugh. Hazel giggled.

"Oh, Arion," she said, and the Romans laughed harder.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"Aww!" The Clarisses and Ares said, and the others rolled their eyes. "No action…"

Meanwhile, the Stolls stared at him in awe. "You actually held Percy back! MIRACLE WORKER!" They hugged Grover, who blushed while Percy rolled his eyes.

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

"Me…" the Percys said miserably, and the demigods snickered. It was true.

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. **

"Mmhmm…. Nothing. Nothing can ever ever ever compare to this mess…" Percy nodded, agreeing with himself. The futures nodded to, and repeated the 'nothing'.

P.J. stared at them. "So… my life stinks then. That's a confidence booster." The Hermes and Apollo gangs snickered.

"Sarcasm until death." Nico laughed, and everyone turned to him "Percy's the sarcasm king, as you can see by his thoughts." Everyone nodded in understanding, as Percy rolled his eyes.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.** **It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Longer," the gods said, and Percy rolled his eyes. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"I know that now!" he exclaimed, scowling, before he smiled smugly. "You just admitted your old."

The gods glared at him as the demigods laughed.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx**

Percy let out a low growl, and Annabeth scowled. Everyone stared at them.

"That sphinx hurt Tyson." Percy snarled, and everyone sighed. Percy was too protective of his friends.

"Overprotective," Thalia and Nico scoffed, and Percy sighed.

"Can't you guys not be annoying and be mean to me for five minutes?"

"Nope!" They piped up, and Percy glared at them.

**on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting,**

"Who are you and what have you done with Percy Jackson?" everyone who knew him asked, Annabeth scooting off his lap and staring at him fearfully, and he rolled his eyes.

"Is it so strange that I try learning for once?" he asked.

The others just nodded.

Percy sighed. "I care when someone dies, even if I don't know them." Percy said, and everyone else 'ah'ed in understanding.

**but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodd's, would give me the evil eye.**

"Jerk," Percy and Grover coughed, glaring at the book. Hades and Nico stared at it quizzically.

_She sounds familiar…_ they thought

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia**

"Farther south than Georgia," Percy scoffed, and Grover snickered.

_Could it be? _Hades and Nico thought.

**who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

_Suspicions confirmed. _Hades and Nico thought, fearfully taking glances at Poseidon, in fear for how he'd react. Geez, how did Percy get out of this one?

"What did you do this time?" Thalia groaned. Percy held up his hands in surrender.

"It wasn't me!" he exclaimed.

No one believed him.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

"That stinks," Young Silena said, and Percy smiled, though you could see the sadness in them as Annabeth grabbed his hand.

"Welcome to my world." He said sadly, and she looked at the older boy quizzically. Sure he was hot, but what was that sadness in his eyes? Why was it directed at her?

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Grover!" Annabeth snapped, and he blushed.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and she rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, Percy's Percy," she said as if that explained everything.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" he asked, waving his arms around and blushing in a way that made Annabeth think he was cute… again.

"It means-" she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, "that you're perfect and can do anything." Percy blushed. "I was just worried Seaweed Brain."

Percy smiled, hugging her closer on his lap, and she smiled and leaned into his warm chest, as he whispered, "Thanks, Wise Girl," in a way that sent chills down her spine. She turned and pressed her lips to his, causing their younger versions to blush like crazy, and Katie to unknowingly to grab Travis's hand.

"One day, we'll be all cheesy like them…" she muttered, and he smirked.

"Why not now?" he asked her cheekily, leaning in.

She grinned "Oh, come here you." as they joined the make out session too.

Before they knew it, everyone but Conner, Leo, Nico, Thalia, and Reyna was making out with someone, as they sat their awkwardly, as the gods and heroes watched amused, and the younger demigods watched their olders disgusted.

"I'm still single!" Leo shouted, annoyed.

Reyna shrugged, turned to Leo, and brought her mouth to his as they began making out as well, and everyone stopped to gape.

"Did that really just happen?" Percy asked, gaping.

The others nodded.

Zeus cleared his throat. "Moving on now…"

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

"Lame" Leo said, pulling away from Reyna, both of them smiling like idiots. Everyone blinked. "What?"

"You and Reyna, complete opposites, just had a make out session." Nico said, rolling his eyes.

Leo smirked, "Opposites Attract my friend. Where's your girlfriend?" Nico scowled.

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele,**

"She was totally wishing it were you." Grover muttered, and Percy blinked.

"What?" he asked, appalled.

Grover shrugged. "Dude, she had a huge crush on you. All the girls did." Percy stared at him awkwardly and Annabeth glared at Grover while the others snickered.

"They were always picking on me!" he said, and Grover rolled his eyes.

"That's how girls flirt sometimes. Annabeth pretended to hate you, as did…" the girls who had flirted with Percy in the room glared, while Grover skipped their names, "Almost every girl at camp." He said nervously. "Trust me, I could read their emotions."

Percy looked like he wanted to throw up, and Zeus continued.

**and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

"Nice," The Stolls laughed, and Percy rolled his eyes.

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"Of course…" everyone muttered in unison.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"Way to go, Chiron. You caught Percy…" Leo muttered.

Chiron turned to them. "What was that, Leonardo?" he asked, and Leo blushed.

"Nothing…" he murmured as everyone snickered.

"Pursues," Leo muttered, and Percy scowled as the old Pursues blinked. Nico laughed.

"Nicole." Percy snapped. Nico glared.

"Dude! Nicole is a girl's name! At least Nicole isn't my real name!" he exclaimed. Percy shrugged.

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

"Nope." P.J. said with an eye roll.

Young Annabeth whacked him. "Seaweed Brain," she hissed. The futures blinked. Unknown by the, the two had been bonding and Annabeth helped him make friends with the youngers, while she sat on the couch next to him when he moved to the past kids. "It's in the book."

"Sorry," he said, face flushed, and Annabeth smiled, thinking he was cute. They locked gazes, bright green meeting stormy grey, before looking away. Silena and Aphrodite cooed.

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

"You're cute when you blush." Both Annabeth's said, and the younger blushed as she did, causing P.J. to blush, making him look cuter.

"Uhh…"

Beckendorf laughed. "You two got it bad." He snickered, and P.J. rolled his eyes.

"Just like you and Silena." The two blushed, and the younger Stolls high-fived P.J.

Older Annabeth smiled at Percy. "I think your cute when your embarrassed too. You're face gets all pink, which looks cute on you. And you're eyes are all wide and innocent…" she trailed off, giggling as Percy looked just as she described. She kissed his cheek, and he blushed more.

"Uhh…"

The gods and heroes laughed at the similarities. Some things never changed.

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

"Yeah, sure. And I'm from Mars." Nico scoffed, and Jason and Luke looked smug. Percy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a complete idiot, you know." He said, and Nico rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but it's still fun to mess with you." Thalia added, bumping his shoulder. "We may as well be siblings. It's what we do." Percy smiled, and Luke and Jason stared on jealously. Hera smiled at their familieness.

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. **

"No way!" Thalia and Nico gasped in shock, and Percy huffed.

**"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

The gods grumbled and the demigods began cursing like crazy at the name Kronos, causing the gods to stop grumbling and stare at them.

"Ugh, Kronos is such a-" Nico started, only to be interrupted.

"Nico, Language!" Thalia snapped, causing Nico to scoff.

"I bet Percy cussed worse than me when he was twelve at the rate he cusses now." He said with an eye roll.

"You try living an hour in my shoes. Then we'll see…" Percy snapped, glaring at him and causing Nico to shiver. It was true; Percy had rights with the amount of stress he was under.

Some people didn't get that it really hurt when he was teased though. They were his friends and they were saying these things about him. Sure they thought it was fun, and they were right, but when you're called an idiot you're whole life, it kind of gets to you. Percy wished someone would understand that.

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because …"**

"Because he's evil!" Percy shouted, blushing when all eyes turned to him. The gods raised and eyebrow.

"I will agree he's evil but how do you know?" Hephaestus asked, and Percy sighed.

"Personal experience…" Percy mumbled, glaring at Luke. Luke looked at him, did he know about the voice? Did he know about Kronos talking to him in his dreams? Percy was from the future, and after Luke's failed quest Kronos had said a hero would come he would have to stop. Was it Percy?

The old heroes stared at him. "You- you've actually fought Kronos?" they asked. Percy scowled, but nodded. They stared at him in shock.

"Not just fought, defeated." Nico chimed, and everyone's eyes widened.

"Percy!" Hazel said, whacking him in the head, "You never told us you fought Kronos!" she snapped.

"Defeated!" The Greeks sang.

"But it would make sense. Like how we thought he was a god at first. How he seemed like he'd seen a lot of sad stuff and nothing scared him. And how it looked like he did know what fighting a titan was like…" Frank trailed off, and Percy rolled his eyes.

Octavian looked smug. "I told you the Praetor was better than Jason. The omens said… it…" he trailed off as Jason and Percy glared at him. Jason because he hated being second, and Percy because he hated all the attention.

"It wasn't just me." Percy mumbled, and everyone looked at him in disbelief. Artemis was shocked that a male would downsize himself like that. He was a hero. Hestia looked proud at his modesty.

**"Well…" I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

"Are you serious? Percy, you of all people should know!" Thalia said, staring at him incredulously. Percy shrugged.

"I do now." He shrugged, and Thalia sighed.

"I'm starting to sound like your mom…" she trailed off, and Percy smiled.

"More like the big sister I always wanted." He corrected, wrapping her in a one armed hug. She smiled.

"Don't forget me!" Nic said, plopping his head between theirs, as they laughed. Annabeth smiled, sliding down to Percy's side, intertwining his fingers into hers. She knew he needed the family time. Nico plopped next to Percy so that Percy was in the middle, and they put their arms around each other, one big happy family. Hera grinned at them.

The family bonding moment was interrupted as a random flute began playing, and everyone turned to the direction it came from, meaning Apollo.

He shrugged. "Background music." Everyone sighed, but the trio of Big-Three demigods didn't notice. They were just happy to be a family again now that Percy was back.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"Thank you, Chiron. The idiocy was messing with my brain," The demigods scowled as Athena said that, and Percy frowned.

"Hey, the other people allowed to call Percy an idiot are me, Nico, and Annabeth so back off sister!" Thalia snapped, and Percy hugged her again, laughing. Artemis stared at him. He really was different if he gained her lieutenant's trust.

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And … he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. **

"You always were her favorite…" Poseidon mumbled, and Zeus looked smug.

"Actually, she liked Hestia best." Percy said, and Poseidon stared at him.

"Percy! You're supposed to say 'No Dad! She liked you!'" Poseidon whined, and Percy rolled his eyes at his childishness, not that he was any better.

"I'm just saying. Hestia's quiet and really nice. I bet you were her favorite boy, though." Poseidon smiled, satisfied, while Hestia smiled at him as well.

"Actually, Percy, it's my dad." Thalia said, and Percy rolled his eyes.

"No, your dads just looked the most like a rock." Everyone burst out laughing at that, and Percy looked thoughtful suddenly. "I see the resemblance." At this point, everyone was howling with laughter, as Thalia sent a shock through his body, and Zeus glared.

Percy glared, pointing a finger above her and flicking it downwards as she was instantly soaked. She glared at him. "You wanna go, Kelp Head?"

"Oh, boy…" Nico muttered, and everyone rolled their eyes at how hypocritical that sounded, while the gods marveled at how much they were like their parents.

Percy shrugged. "Bring it on, Pinecone Face,"

Just as they were about to stand, Annabeth put a hand on Percy's chest, intertwining their fingers again. "Make up, Seaweed Brain."

Percy sighed, and held out a hand. "Truce?"

Thalia smiled, shaking his hand. "Truce?" They leaned in to hug, and just as Percy went by her ear, he added.

"This isn't over, Agreed?" he mumbled.

"Agreed." She smiled, and they sat back down on the couch next to each other, grinning.

**And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

"Nasty!" Aphrodite and Silena exclaimed.

"How am I related to them?" Piper muttered, and the others just shrugged.

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"Eeew is right." Hera muttered, and the elder gods shivered. Zeus smirked.

"My plans are awesome." He said smugly, and the others rolled their eyes.

"Could have worked a little quicker! It was nasty in there!" Hades snapped, as the gods stared at them.

"You live in the Underworld and torture souls all day." Poseidon said, and Hades shrugged.

"Not a fun place to grow up in though. Makes you feel neglected."

"Emo." Poseidon coughed, and Hades glared.

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

"Short, sweet, and to the point." Thalia laughed, and Percy shrugged.

"Well, now that I've lived it, I would probably describe it longer, since it's a book." He shrugged, and Thalia rolled her eyes. "Seriously," he added. "We were talking about the Revolutionary War at school, and I went into all out rant mode. Got really sad about the umm… people who died." He scowled. "They had to bring in my step-dad. It was really awkward." Everyone stared at him, as the youngers wondered who died. The gods were thinking about how much of a hero it was if he admitted it affected him so much, and the heroes shrugged, trying to be high and mighty. The futures looked sympathetic. That war really stunk.

**Some snickers from the group.**

"Wait just a minute!" Apollo scowled, not very happy that people were making fun of Percy. The gods were beginning to like him. "Why are they laughing? You got it right!"

Percy shrugged. "They're weird." He made a loopy sign by his head. "Troubled kids, remember?" Apollo nodded.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend," Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"It matters when you're a demigod who needs to know his motives so that you can stop him," Reyna snapped, and the demigods nodded in agreement.

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Please see above paragraph." Leo said, and everyone looked at him strangely. "I'm talking to the readers."

"Who?" Grover asked, and Leo rolled his eyes.

"Over there!" he said, pointing at you. The demigods sighed.

"Moving on."

**"Busted," Grover muttered.**

"You're busted!" The Stolls started singing, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"No Phineas and Ferb." Thalia snapped, while Hazel, the past heroes, and the young demigods looked confused.

"Who?"

The demigods looked at them strangely. "You know, the weird that's on way to much about a red haired kid and his green haired brother." Leo said, but they still looked at them blankly.

"Oh yeah, it's like, 2000 or something. They don't have it yet." Frank said, and the others nodded.

"Do they even have DVDs yet?" Chris asked, and the others shrugged.

"I feel old now. I mean, DVDs may not have been around until we were little." Percy pouted, and Annabeth rolled her eyes, kissing his cheek.

"You're sixteen, Seaweed Brain. You aren't old."

They were about to continue reading, when Hazel giggled. "Hey, we fought Phineas, as in Percy's half-brother, the seer, Phineas." Frank laughed quietly and Percy rolled his eyes.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

"Weird," Hermes muttered.

"She was weird," Percy added, and Grover laughed, high fiving him.

P.J. and Grover smiled at each other. They couldn't wait to be best friends.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Horse ears," Nico coughed, and Chiron waved a hand at him dismissively.

"Heard that," Chiron shouted over to him, and Nico scowled.

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"As always," Thalia muttered, and Percy bumped shoulders with her. She smiled at him innocently.

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed." Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children,**

"Gross…" Piper muttered. Leo laughed.

"Piper, your Aphrodite is showing," he told her teasingly. She blanched.

"Oh gods…"

**who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodd's, would you lead us back outside?"**

"Was that sarcasm?" Apollo asked, and Chiron shrugged.

"Nah, he just isn't very good at changing the subject," Percy answered for him cheekily, and Chiron sighed. "Well it's true!" Percy said.

"No one argued, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth added, kissing his cheek.

"Sorry," Percy muttered, blushing.

"You're too sweet," she sighed, and he blushed more.

"Sorry," he mumbled again, and she rolled her eyes.

"Stop that."

"Sorry."

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"They're always doofuses." Artemis snapped, and Apollo huffed indignantly. She didn't get that he just wanted to be her brother. He wanted to have a bond like Percy, Thalia, and Nico did.

"Not all of us," Percy corrected, and she scowled.

"Yes they are." She snapped. "They're filthy, lying-"

"Actually, Lady Artemis, you think differently of Percy," Thalia added, faltering slightly under Artemis's intense glare.

"What?" she glared and Thalia stood defiant.

"I said, you think differently of Percy," Artemis opened her mouth to protest, but Thalia continued. "You admitted that he was a true hero, as did Zoe. You honor his modesty and bravery and that he treats women equally and doesn't abandon us, even when he could have any girl he wanted, he stays with Annabeth, because he's a true hero. Zoe's last words were actually that not all men are bad." By the end of Thalia's speech, everyone was shocked, Percy was blushing, Hercules was glaring, and Hestia and Poseidon were beaming at Percy.

"And, Lady Artemis," Artemis turned to Percy, who seemed hesitant to say something. "You should really give Apollo a chance. He just wants to be a good brother, and you're pushing him away. I can tell…" he mumbled, and Artemis stared at him, shocked. Was he right? Was she pushing Apollo away? She glanced at Apollo from the corner of her eye, who was grinning at Percy. He really liked this hero. Maybe Artemis would give him a chance.

"I'm sorry, Apollo. Percy's right. I do push you away," she muttered, and everyone stared, shocked. Percy had just fixed the family relationship of Apollo and Artemis. He was a miracle worker.

Apollo smiled. "I forgive you, sis- I mean Artemis." He said, pulling her into a hug as she whispered something in his ear.

"You can call me sis." She whispered, and he smiled, before they sat back down, and Apollo mouthed 'Thank you' to Percy, who mouthed back, 'No problem.'

_Maybe he could solve the Poseidon/Athena feud_. The gods thought hopefully.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

"Here it comes," P.J. groaned. He was used to this.

**I knew that was coming.**

"Yup…" P.J. muttered, and the younger Stolls grinned.

"Dude, maybe you should teach us!" they exclaimed, and P.J. laughed, happy to have friends.

"Sure." He said, shaking hands with them in agreement.

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

"Yes?" Chiron said, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"Book, Chiron." Athena corrected, and Chiron blushed.

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"Ooooh! Foreshadowing!" Nico and Thalia sang, and Percy chuckled quietly.

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

"Yeah, that'll happen." Thalia said and Percy huffed.

"I can answer it!" he snapped, and Nico and Thalia laughed.

"Sure you can."

**"About the Titans?"**

Facepalm.

"Percy…" Annabeth said, but Percy stopped her.

"I know, I know…" he muttered.

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

"Oh," P.J. and Percy muttered, while the others laughed, Zeus the loudest as he read the next line.

**"Oh."**

Everyone was practically rolling on the floor with laughter, while Percy and P.J. sat there awkwardly, blushing like crazy. Annabeth sat up straight, kissing Percy's cheek.

"It's okay, Seaweed Brain," she muttered, and Percy blushed at the nickname "I find your cluelessness cute." Percy grinned at that, intertwining their fingers as she got back on his lap, leaning into his chest.

Young Annabeth smiled at P.J. "I think it's cute too," she said, blushing as she did so.

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important.**

"True," The demigods added, sighing. The information he taught them was lifesaving.

**I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

"There it is again! Why me?" Percy asked, pouting. The older demigods rolled their eyes.

"Because, you're the greatest hero to ever live. It's your job to be the best, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth laughed. The old heroes went wide eyed. They hadn't heard that.

"What!?" They exclaimed, and the others turned to him. "Since when was he- "they pointed at Percy in disgust as he scowled, "-better than us." They asked, appalled.

"I honestly don't agree with the greatest hero ever thing-" everyone gaped at his modesty. "-except I do know I'm better than you four-" the old heroes glared, "Because I never abandoned anyone or did something with help without giving others recognition," the gods and demigods smiled at him. It was true. "Truthfully, I think the greatest heroes are everyone who died for the right cause, or fought for it. I honestly don't get why people think it's me."

Everyone stared at him in awe except the futures who were smiling at him, Jason and Luke who were glaring, the past heroes who looked miffed, and Hestia who looked smug. Poseidon smiled warmly at his son, and Annabeth hugged him from behind. Artemis stared at him. He truly was different. Piper and Leo grinned; he did deserve the titles and respect he was given.

"Ok. Percy? You just proved it." Thalia said, smiling at him happily and clasping her hands together. Percy blinked.

"Huh?"

"And, you don't even know you're doing it…" Nico muttered, as the gods got over their shock to continue.

**I wanted to get angry; this guy pushed me so hard.**

"It's for the best, Percy," Chiron said, and Percy nodded.

"I know. I know…" he mumbled.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'"**

The guys snickered. "What ho?" Apollo asked, and the girls rolled their eyes, whacking their respective boy.

"You guys have messed up minds…" Hera muttered, and the guys shrugged, smiling at each other.

**and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. **

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Hermes asked Chiron, who shrugged.

"It was! I mean, we may be children of the gods, but every Greek to ever live is a little much." Percy said, and Chiron sighed.

"I was just teaching," Chiron said.

Percy let out a huff, "Still."

"Well, you know the life story of every camper at camp, and treat them like a sibling…" Nico told him. Percy scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"Of course I do! We're family!" he exclaimed as if it were obvious, which it kind of was to him. Hera smiled.

"Why can't you all be like him?" she asked. Percy blushed at that.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. **

"Which stinks," all the demigods mumbled. The gods looked down in guilt. They brought this on their children.

**No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"Sadly…" Percy sighed.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"Poor Margret…" Chiron mumbled, shaking his head.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

"That sounds boring." Leo said. Percy and Grover nodded.

"It was." They said, and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Percy, you're always bored." She said, as Percy pouted.

"Not my fault." He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He was ignored.

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas.**

Everyone looked at Zeus suspiciously, who shrugged. "This hasn't happened yet, I have no clue what's going on."

"Do you ever," Hades smirked, and Poseidon snickered.

Zeus glared, and lightning flashed. "I'll have you know-"

"Drama!" Poseidon interrupted, and the everyone laughed. Zeus huffed.

**We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

Now everyone looked at Zeus and Poseidon. "He started it!" They shouted, pointing at each other like children. The other gods rolled their eyes.

"You two fight like children." Hera huffed.

"Nu-uh!" They crossed their arms indignantly, putting out their bottom lips. The demigods watched amused.

"Oh really, now?" Hestia asked, deciding to help her sister out. "Then who did start your one of many arguments this time?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"He did! No he did! Stop copying me!" They yelled at each other, glaring.

"Let's settle this like men." Zeus glared, and Poseidon nodded in agreement.

They stood across from each other, one hand raised in the air. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, waves crashed, and earthquakes shook the earth. Percy, Thalia, and Nico smirked with Hades. They knew what was going to happen. They settled things like this all the time.

"You ready for this?" Zeus asked.

"The ultimate showdown…" Poseidon muttered ominously.

"The greatest battle…"

"ROCK, PAPER SCISSORS, SHOOT!" they shouted, and Percy, Thalia, Nico and Hades watched intently, leaning in on their elbows as the others looked at the two weirdly.

"Ha! I wi- what is that?" Zeus asked, as Poseidon smirked.

"This is ridiculo-" Athena started, only to be shushed by Hades, Percy, Thalia and Nico.

"It's a gun." Poseidon smirked, and Percy fist pumped. Thalia and Nico glared at him. Percy pulled this one all the time.

"Are you-" Annabeth began, but Percy put a hand over her mouth, and she glared.

"Guns don't count!" Hades and Zeus shouted, while Thalia and Nico smirked at Percy. Percy pouted cutely, rosy bottom lip sticking out slightly..

"Oh please tell me you're joking." Dionysus drawled loudly. Percy doused him in icy cold water, while he was zapped by Thalia. He glared at them, but they didn't notice because they were watching the fight intently.

"Yes, they do. No rule against it." Poseidon smirked, and Zeus glared harder. The old heroes stared at their parents, as Hazel and Jason leaned back in shock. Were the Greek gods all this laid back?

"Oh, come o-" Reyna started, but she was assaulted by a ghost from Hades and a shadow from Nico.

"Then I could say, oh… Chuck Norris, and always win?" Zeus asked. Percy and Thalia jumped up, high fiving. Nico rolled his eyes at their Chuck Norris obsession.

"Just-" Hercules was cut off as Percy put the magical duct tape on his face. Hercules glared.

"No, it says shoot. Rock Paper Scissors shoot. Not Rock Paper Scissors Chuck Norris." Poseidon insisted with an eye roll.

"Ok this is ridiculous and if any of you three cut you off, I will get the Apollo cabin to curse you to be completely engulfed in light for a month," Annabeth threatened to Nico, who paled considerably, even with his already pale skin tone, "I will tell everyone of your crush on a certain someone back before you were a huntress," Thalia paled too, causing her freckles to stand out on her nose, "And for you, Percy," she paused ominously, "I will not make out with you for a week." Percy went bug eyed and sat on his hands, curling his lips in to make sure he didn't say a word. Annabeth smirked. "Good. Now. Why the Hades do you settle things with Rock Paper Scissors?" she asked the gods.

"It works," Hades shrugged, and the other two nodded in agreement. The children of the big three nodded as well.

The others stared at them, "You're weird," they deadpanned in unison, before continuing while the Big Three and their kids pouted.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

"Of course…" Percy, P.J. and the Grover's muttered.

"One of yours?" Apollo asked Hermes.

"HADES NO!" Hermes yelled, and Hades scowled at the use of his name.

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

Percy and P.J. sighed, looking down, while the others turned to them surprised. Did they really think like that?

"Do you really think like that, Kelp Head?" Thalia asked, and Percy shrugged.

"I was raised to think like that," he said with a sigh, looking glum. The others were thoughtful. Why would he be raised to think like that, besides bullies?

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."**

"Truer words have never been spoken," Jason teased cruelly, and Percy and P.J. glared. What was his problem?

Leo and Piper stared at their friend quizzically. Why was he acting like this? They had noticed it for a while, but why was he doing it? Was he jealous or something? What did Percy do to him?

Everyone else glared. If Percy really thought so lowly of himself, why would Jason chose now to insult him? It wasn't right. As a matter of fact, it was just plain rude.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

At that comment, the previous tension was gone as everyone burst out laughing.

"Ah, Grover," the demigods said, while Grover blushed.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

Annabeth gasped. "Percy, not wanting food?" she asked, and eyebrow quirked. Percy rolled his eyes.

"No, I didn't want food. Like I said, I didn't have an appetite. And…" Percy coughed, looking at P.J. who was rapidly shaking his head, "personal reasons." Everyone stared at him questioningly, but he didn't say anything more about it.

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. **

P.J. winced. "That stinks." He sighed. "How bad was Christmas?" he asked, and the others stared at him in shock. Percy smiled.

"Actually-" he grinned, "-Christmas was wonderful. You kind of get a confidence boost at the military school for 5th grade. Things get better."

P.J. jumped up, grinning. "Does that mean-" Percy nodded rapidly, while everyone looked at them weird. What were they talking about?

**I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

Hera smiled at the boys love for his mother. Why couldn't her children be like that?

"Why can't you be like that?" she voiced her thoughts, and her kids scowled.

"You threw me off Olympus," Hephaestus said, and Hera rolled her eyes.

Artemis meanwhile was thoughtful. The boy actually admitted to needing his mother. The others were right, he truly was a hero.

Hestia smiled, as if hearing her thoughts, and nodded at Artemis. She had been watching the boy after all.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.**

"Idea!" Hephaestus, Leo, and Beckendorf sang as they began jotting down notes. The others rolled their eyes.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends**

"Who also totally had a crush on you," Grover said, and Percy went wide eyed.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? WHY ME? YUCK!" He shouted, and the others- except Annabeth- snickered.

**-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

Percy and P.J. made growling noises, which the others had finally learned to ignore. Percy just had to protect his friends.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"Mental image!" Aphrodite and Silena shouted. Piper sighed. Why was she related to them?

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper."**

"Not gonna work…" Nico muttered, and when he realized he had spoken out loud, corrected himself. "Percy has a bad temper," The gods nodded in understanding, while the demigods rolled their eyes. Hypocrites.

"Clarisse's is worse!" Percy whined, and Clarisse stood up to hurt him.

"You little-"

"Continue! They could fight all day!" Thalia exclaimed, and Zeus happily obliged.

**But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"Here we go," everyone leaned forward in anticipation, and P.J. looked excited to see his powers in action.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Nice!" The Stolls high fived Percy, while the young Stolls high-fived P.J., who's eyes were wide in shock. He could do that?

"AWESOME!" Leo shouted, high-fiving Percy. "and I though Jason's powers were cool!" Jason scowled, and Percy blushed. Annabeth smirked.

"That's nothing. Wait until he knows how to use his powers." She said, and everyone looked excited. Percy blushed even more.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

"Here we go…"" P.J. muttered, sighing. The Stolls, Percy, and Leo nodded in understanding.

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

**"-the water-"**

**"-like it grabbed her-"**

"Wicked…" everyone muttered, while Percy blushed again.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

"As always…" the Percy's muttered, as the demigods snickered at him.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., **

"Teachers pet!" Percy, P.J., Thalia, both Clarisse's, and Nico shouted, scowling.

**Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. **

"Probably had," Hades murmured, glancing worriedly at Poseidon. He was going to flip out.

**"Now, honey-"**

"Enough with the honey!" Apollo exclaimed.

"She still does that, you know." Nico whispered so only Percy could hear.

"Weirdo…" he muttered, and Nico laughed, causing people to look at them funny.

"What are you laughing at?" Demeter snapped.

"Nothing," they said in unison, looking so innocent that the gods had to agree. Percy juts looked so adorable with his gorgeous sea-green eyes wide.

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"No! Never guess your punishment! It's rule 1264!" The Stolls and Hermes exclaimed. Percy sighed.

"Whatever."

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Obviously." Hermes said, and Chris rolled his eyes. Was that really his dad?

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

"Revenge!" Ethan shouted randomly, and the people who weren't from the future looked at him weirdly. The futures sighed, though. He wanted revenge on the gods, since he was a Son of Nemesis after all, even if he didn't know it yet.

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

"Thanks for trying, G-man." Percy said gratefully. Grover smiled at him.

"Any time, Perce."

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

Grover nodded. "To death." He deadpanned blatantly. Everyone stared at him oddly but Percy.

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

The Stolls snickered until Percy glared at them. They then shivered.

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But-"**

**"You-will-stay-here."**

Grover and Percy sighed. If only he could have gone too.

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"No problem Percy," Grover said cheekily. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Book, Grover." Percy said. Grover blushed.

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

"She usually screeches…" Nico said, and Percy snickered while everyone stared. Was it a monster? Annabeth tightened her grip on Percy's hand, and Percy pulled her tighter onto his lap.

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

"Dude, that thing is creepy. But it's not as bad as the 'you hurt my friends, I hurt you,' glare or the, 'I'm going to make your life a living Hades,' glare or the 'no one messes with my family' glare." Nico said thoughtfully, and the demigods nodded. Percy rolled his eyes.

"He has an assortment of glares?" Zeus asked.

The demigods nodded. "Percy's lightest is the 'I hate you glare,' One of his mediums is, 'you may be bad, but I'm worse,' and the deluxe, 'I'll kill you later stare'. His worst is probably the 'you mess with my friend, I mess up your face' glare. You know, right before he goes all Chuck Norris on you," Travis ranted, and the others nodded.

"I go all Chuck Norris?" Percy asked, amused. They shrugged.

"You do go all Chuck Norris." Frank said, and the Romans laughed, while the younger demigods looked confused.

"Who?" they asked, and the demigods went wide eyed.

"Chuck Norris, Son of Ares, Super freaking Ninja." Thalia said, and the demigods nodded. Ares smirked.

"Some kids pee on the floor, Chuck Norris poops on the ceiling," Percy teased, and the demigods laughed.

"Chuck Norris once peed on a truck. That truck is now Optimus Prime." Chris joked, and the demigods laughed more.

"Chuck Norris is one of my idols, along with Percy-" Percy stared at her weirdly, "What, I admit, I look up to you okay?" Percy blushed, "And Michael Jackson, music legend" The kids of the Big Three high-fived. They had an obsession with him –his music. He wasn't necessarily the best role model.

Suddenly, Nico turned to Percy. "Michael Jackson." He said, as if in a trance.

Thalia caught on and went wide eyed. "Michael Jackson," she repeated, and Percy looked at them blankly.

"So…"

"Michael JACKSON!" They exaggerated the Jackson, and the demigods went wide eyed.

"Oh my gods! What if I'm related to him?!" Percy shouted, and Nico smirked.

"You never know until you talk to the ghost." He said, and the others nodded.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wanna see the deluxe I'll kill you-" Ares was cut off as Percy gave it to him, annoyed. He let out a whimper and had to change his pants. It was as if Percy put all of his pain into that single glare. Needless to say, Ares would have nightmares.

"That's not his worst? It's a medium!?" Hades, the god of the freaking Underworld who spends his days torturing people asked, appalled as everyone stared at the door where Percy and the kids of the big three disappeared into. The others shrugged.

"I literally think his 'You mess with my friends, I mess up your face' glare can kill you." Katie added, and the others nodded.

"It can." Annabeth added. "During the you-know-what, a monster turned to dust from it." Everyone stared at the door Percy disappeared into in awe.

Suddenly, they heard three screams of "AWESOME!" as Percy, Thalia, and Nico rushed in, jumping up and down.

"He's my mom's uncle's cousin! Even if it doesn't look like it!" Percy shouted, grinning.

"Awesome! You're related to my idol! My idol and my other idol!" Leo shouted, and everyone laughed. Percy was too excited to blush about being called his idol.

They sat back down, grinning like crazy, but Percy couldn't sit still from excitement. He kept bouncing in place, as P.J. was too. They couldn't believe it. Annabeth sighed, leaning into his chest. At least she had a message chair.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

"Uh… oh…." Everyone muttered, excitement forgotten. Percy was in grave danger, if this was a monster. Annabeth hugged Percy's hand tighter, and Percy stopped jumping.

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"Monster…." Hazel whimpered. P.J. had started shaking from fear, as did the younger demigods.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

"I wouldn't be so sure," Poseidon mumbled, fearing for his son's safety. Percy better not be dead, or someone was going to lose their head. Even though his son was right over there…

**I wasn't so sure.**

No one even laughed, they were too worried. How did Percy get himself out of this mess?

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

P.J. made an 'eep' noise, and hugged his arms to his chest, eyes wide. What if his older self got hurt? He would have to live through this eventually.

Thalia smiled weakly, walking over to him, her feet making soft echoing noises throughout the hall. She picked him up, and walked back over to her couch next to Percy, hugging him tight. Everyone stared at her, even little Percy with his big doe eyes.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "I've always thought of him as a younger brother. Now he is. I'm going to enjoy it." She told them. The others shrugged, while Jason glared. He was Thalia's younger brother, not Percy.

A grin crept onto older Percy's face. He never knew Thalia had felt that way for him. He turned to her, catching her eye with his, sending a silent 'thank you' to her. She nodded, sending a small smile to her cousin.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

"Chiron!" Poseidon, Thalia, Annabeth, and Nico snapped, worried for their friend. Chiron looked down, glancing at Percy out of the corner of his eyes, wondering how the Hades the poor kid was alive. Thank the gods he was, or Lord Poseidon would murder him. Chiron shivered at the thought, turning back to the book.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

P.J. buried his face into Thalia's hair, and Percy hugged Annabeth closer.

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"Never is," Leo said, trying to lighten the mood. Needless to say, it didn't work.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

"Obviously," Artemis muttered.

"**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

"Oh boy…" Clarisse muttered, actually worried for Prissy.

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Not good. Not good." Poseidon was hyperventilating, worried for his son. Hades and Nico glanced at him worriedly.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

"She is growling!" Athena snapped, unable to take the tension. Everyone shushed her, and she let out a huff. "Well." She muttered, annoyed.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**

"She does…" Hades sighed, making eye contact with Percy, who gave a small nod to tell him that it really was Alecto. Hades sighed. He was in for it.

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

"What?" The gods asked. No one answered.

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

"Did Percy just use his manners?" Nico muttered to Thalia, who hid her snicker. Now wasn't the time to laugh, even if everyone else was as surprised as them about Percy actually using his manners for once.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

"Get away with what?" No answer.

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

"Yup. Monster." Dionysus told the book monotonously, even though he was slightly worried. He actually kind of liked the Peter Johnson kid or whatever. Everyone glared at him.

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"Sadly, son, that's not the case," Poseidon whispered.

**I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

"Dramatic," Hades whispered, but Poseidon didn't laugh. He was too worried for his son.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

P.J. let out a whimper at the mention of pain, shutting his eyes tight. That didn't sound good.

Percy, meanwhile, sighed. He was going to have to feel it all over again too.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

"As always…" Jason muttered, and everyone glared at him. He needed to stop being jealous.

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. **

"Awesome!" Apollo and Hermes cheered, tension broken. The others were laughing, and Percy blushed.

"Got any more?" Leo asked hopefully. Percy sighed, handing him a bag of Jolly Ranchers.

"Whoop!" Leo shouted, digging into his candy, as Percy handed some Tootsie Rolls to the Stolls, pulling out some Skittles for himself.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

Annabeth and Athena glared at Percy. "Sorry! I'm dyslexic, remember?"

Annabeth sighed. "Fine," she kissed his cheek.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

Everyone remembered the situation and tensed. This was definitely not good for Percy. Not good at all. P.J. let out another whimper of fear in the crook of Thalia's neck, and she tightened her grip on him. Percy hugged Annabeth tighter, eating his Skittles nervously, as the others ate their candy as well.

**"Ma'am, I don't…"**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

"Eep!" P.J. squeaked, wrapping his arms around Thalia tightly. Thalia hugged him; no one hurts Percy and gets away with it.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

"A fury!" everyone screamed, and Percy looked down.

"You never told me you're first monster was a fury!" the futures snapped. Percy sighed.

"It didn't seem important at the time." He shrugged. Thalia glared, hugging P.J.

"It is! I fought furies with training! You have no training and no weapon!" she snapped, and P.J. let out a squeak.

"You're scaring mini-me. The point is I'm fine, okay?" Percy said with an eye roll.

Meanwhile, the younger kids were staring at him in awe. A first monster being a fury? Unheard of. How was he going to get out of this? He truly must be a hero like the others have said.

The old heroes were gaping. They didn't fight any monsters with out training, or at 12. This kid was toast. Not even they could do it, even with a weapon.

With the gods, however, they were watching as Poseidon beat the poo out of Hades. He was punching him multiple times until he was covered in bruises, pounding his trident against the god's face like a baseball bat. It wasn't until Percy doused Poseidon in a huge wave of water that he stopped.

"Dad, I'm fine, okay? I didn't even get injured… I think…" he added the last part under his breath, and Poseidon reluctantly sat back on his throne, as everyone continued reading worriedly, Percy eating his Skittles and the others still eating their candy.

**Then things got even stranger.**

"How?" Piper asked. Percy shrugged.

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"A pen?" everyone who didn't know about Riptide asked bewildered. Percy smirked.

"You'd be amazed with what a pen can do." He chuckled with a shrug. The demigods who had once had Riptide at their throats –meaning everyone- nodded furiously.

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

Apollo snickered. "What ho…"

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

P.J. let out a squeak, burying his face deeper into Thalia's chest. Thalia smiled a little, despite the mood. Percy was just so freaking cute!

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear.**

Everyone let out a breath, before Percy let out a small laugh. Everyone turned to him.

"It tickled," he told them, and they all went 'ooh'. The curse. Right.

**I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword- Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

"Awesome…" Leo breathed. "That's cooler than Jason's sword…" Jason scowled at that. Percy smiled.

"Ah… Riptide." He said, pulling the dangerous pen out and twirling it between his fingers. Everyone stared at it.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

"Bum, bum, bum." The Stolls sang, but everyone was too caught up in the book to roll their eyes.

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp!" Ares exclaimed. He instantly got soaked by Percy, P.J., and Poseidon.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

Apollo snickered and muttered to Hermes, "Honey," Hermes muffled a laugh.

**And she flew straight at me.**

The goddesses let out muffled shrieks and Poseidon hyperventilated. P.J. clung to Thalia like a lifeline and Percy squeezed Annabeth tighter.

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"Naturally!" the gods exclaimed, breaking everyone out of their stupor. Percy shrugged.

"Yup, why?" he asked, completely oblivious once again.

"It isn't natural to swing a sword, punk," Ares snapped. Percy looked at him thoughtfully.

"It isn't?" he asked, and the future demigods rolled their eyes.

"Well, he is the best swordsman ever so… that helps." Annabeth added, and everyone stared at the oblivious Percy who was still innocently eating his bag of Skittles.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!**

Everyone stared at Percy in awe. That could have just happened. He couldn't be that skilled already. Well, he is the greatest hero of all time.

Percy, meanwhile, was throwing Skittles up and catching them in his mouth. He through up a green one, and when it came down, a little hand caught it, and P.J. flung it into his own mouth, smirking.

"Hey! My Skittle! Give it back!" He snapped. P.J. smirked.

"No!" he exclaimed simply, grinning. Leo stared at Percy for a moment.

"Wait a minute! My candies gone and you still have a full bag! How?" Leo whined, and Percy laughed.

"Never-ending bag of Skittles, my friend." He replied, plopping another in his mouth. "Got it from a Leprechaun."

"Percy, Leprechauns aren't real!" Annabeth sighed, exasperated.

"Oh really? Then who was the little dude in a green suit? Santa?" he questioned. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"What am I going to do with you?" she asked, kissing his cheek as he grinned sweetly.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

"Spooky," Leo said, and Grover and the Stolls nodded in agreement.

**I was alone.**

"Double Spooky," Leo repeated, and the others nodded again.

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

"Lo and behold! The great mist!" Hermes said, and Percy smirked.

"It actually is a pen," he said, standing up, uncapping Riptide, and showing them his 3 feet of celestial bronze in all its glory. He swung it over his shoulder before flopping back on the couch and capping it, pulling Annabeth back on his lap in the process.

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

"Triple-"

"We get it! It's spooky!" Octavian snapped, and everyone rolled their eyes.

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Magic mushrooms?" everyone asked. Percy shrugged.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"Nope,"

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

"Dumb rain…" Silena and Aphrodite muttered, "Messes with the make-up…"

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

Little Percy whimpered at the word 'whipped.'

"Who?" everyone asked, confused.

**I said, "Who?"**

"YAY! WE THINK LIKE PERCY!" the Stolls and Leo exclaimed, while everyone else rolled their eyes.

**"Our teacher. Duh!"**

"What just happened?" Orion asked.

"The mist," Percy shrugged, leaving the heroes confused.

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

"Rude," Hestia huffed, giving Percy a quick sympathetic glance. Percy didn't want pity, but smiled weakly back. Hestia was different.

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

"Bet ya he messed up," Nico guessed, and the Stolls laughed while the gods and heroes looked at them confused.

"Grover isn't the best liar…" young Chris mumbled, and the other demigods nodded their heads in agreement. The Grovers blushed.

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Told ya,"

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

"Very serious," the futures said so ominously, it sent chills down everyone's spines.

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

"Drama," Poseidon sang under his breath to Hades, who snickered.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

"Nice…" the gods muttered.

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

"Smooth, Chiron, smooth." Apollo laughed, and Percy huffed.

"It just made me confused," Percy mumbled to himself.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

"How do you forget you're holding a pen?" Reyna asked, eyebrow raised. Percy shrugged.

"At the time, I was so confused that I didn't really pay attention." He said, and Reyna nodded in understanding.

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"Here we go…" Hermes muttered.

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"Chiron can lie." The demigods nodded.

"Well, I wasn't all right! I was so confused." Percy huffed, and Hestia sighed.

"That must have stunk," she said sympathetically, and Percy shook his head.

"Not as bad as waking up surrounded by talking wolves with no memory of your past and being told that you are a great hero Son of Neptune that has to cross the country alone with absolutely no supplies and save the world once you get to a camp of Roman demigods who will probably kill you while being chased by monsters." Percy sighed, and everyone stared at him, "That really did happen. It was so lonely," he scowled to himself, and Annabeth wrapped an arm around him again.

"You have us now." She smiled at him, and Percy smiled back, giving her a quick kiss.

"I know." He told her, hugging her close to his chest. "and just so you know, you were the only thing I remembered, as cheesy as that is." Percy mumbled into her hair, and she smiled.

"You're right. That is cheesy. But it's sweet to," she whispered back to him, turning to face him.

Percy smiled, "I love you."

She grinned, "I love you too," she said, pulling him into a kiss.

Thalia sighed. "I would interrupt the love birds, but they haven't kissed in like, eight months, so they need it." She told everyone.

The two demigods pulled apart, grinning like idiots. "Mmkay. Next chapter." Percy suggested absentmindedly. The futures sighed.

"All you need is a little kissy time session to cheer Percy up." Conner smirked, and Percy rolled his eyes.

Zeus passed the book to Poseidon who cleared his throat, and began to read.

**Done!**

**Wow, that was long. Over fifteen-thousand words. Whew…**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm working' on chapter two already, so don't be depressed it or anything. I'm also working on the third part for my Holiday things… Christmas is coming! Happy Holidays!**

**Keep reading,**

**-Hannah, or PJO**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello people I don't really know!**

**Okay, first lemme say wow. You guys are really supportive. Thanks, amazing viewers. Your reviews have been read and I plan on doing whatever you ask. Mostly. I mean, if you say to break up Percabeth or something…**

**Anyways, this chapter starts where I left off, which is now. I mean, I had started these in October, stopped, and now I'm starting again. I'll probably update every two or three days, because a few of these chapters are the informational stuff and make it hard to create a little small skit or snippet, but you get the point.**

**So, enough of me! You guys want a story. Here ya go!**

**Song I'm listening to: Riot by Three Days Grace**

**"Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death"** Poseidon read.

Everyone paled, except Hades and Nico who grinned sadistically at death, but everyone had learned how to ignore them.

"That doesn't sound good…" Reyna muttered. Percy shook his head.

"It isn't," he replied, causing everyone to pale even more.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. **

"You bet…" Percy muttered. Everyone stared at him. When did they start for him? They're weird experience didn't start until later.

"True," P.J. threw in. "Like those ladies that talked to me in the water." He said. Everyone went wide eyed. He saw Naiads that young?

**This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. **

"They wouldn't do that…" Leo joked sarcastically. Percy rolled his eyes.

"You sound like me. All sarcastic and stuffs." Percy said. Leo grinned.

"Yay! I act like you!" he smirked, and Percy rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say act, I said sound. There's a difference." He snapped, and Leo frowned.

"My life is ruined!" he wailed, and Percy grinned.

"TROLOLOLOLOL!" shouted Percy, and Thalia snickered and pointed at Leo.

"You got trolled." Percy and Thalia laughed and high-fived. Jason glared at the pair as Leo pouted.

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"That must have been confusing," Hestia looked at Percy sympathetically, as he sighed, nodding. P.J. scowled. This sounded like another weird experience like that weird snake in his cradle or the time the donkey/robot girl tried to eat him. But of course, no one would listen.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

"You are psycho," Luke snapped. Instead of glaring, Percy and P.J. shrugged.

"Maybe we are. You never know," P.J. said, and the Stolls caught on.

"Or maybe…" Conner started, smirking.

"You are!" both sets of Stolls, Percy, and P.J. shouted, high-fiving as the others laughed. Beckendorf nodded.

"I knew it," he drawled, slapping his knee as if he were a country person. People laughed louder. Luke scowled.

"Revenge!" Ethan shouted again, and everyone rolled their eyes. They were used to it now.

"Everyone quiet!" Piper charmspoke, and everyone found themselves unable to talk. She turned to Poseidon, and said. "Read."

**It got so I almost believed them- Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

"I heard an almost…" Demeter mumbled. Percy nodded at her.

**Almost.**

"I knew it!" Octavian exclaimed, "The omens-"

"Zip it, Teddy Bear murderer. You didn't know anything!" Percy snapped, and Hazel smirked.

"Still mad he killed your panda?" she asked him, and Percy huffed, crossing his arms indignantly.

"Yeah. It was the only company I had on my trip. I named him Jeff." Percy sighed, "Poor Jeff…" he mumbled. Annabeth sighed, leaning into him so he couldn't reminisce anymore.

"I had a friend named Jeff at my old school!" Michael exclaimed, and everyone jumped, forgetting he was there.

Young Will sighed. "We know. He fell into a puddle of mud and you called him muddy Jeff for the rest of the year. The end." He said in monotone, and Lee added something.

"And you found out you were a demigod over the summer, and never saw him again." Lee finished. Michael huffed.

"If you gotta problem with that you can kiss my quiver!" he yelled. The futures laughed.

"You said that in the future to!" Future Will exclaimed, laughing.

"Yeah! To Clarisse. Thank goodness you made her quiet!" Conner shouted, and Chris and Clarisse glared.

"Well he should have-"

"Moving on!" Percy yelled, and the others nodded.

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"Okay, that I saw coming," Octavian admitted, holding his hands up in a gesture of honesty. No one corrected him though. It was obvious.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

"No hesitation!" The children of Hermes and Hermes himself snapped. The others sighed.

**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.**

"You were attacked by a monster. Get used to it." Katie sighed, and Percy huffed.

"Now I know," he mumbled, fists clenched as he remembered all the monsters he was forced to fight. Annabeth kissed his cheek.

"Thing will get better," she whispered to him. Percy smiled weakly at her.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

The demigods shivered. The first monster was always the worst. They still had nightmares about theirs, and it wasn't a fury. Even the heroes shivered. The gods sighed. This was all their fault. Poseidon glared at Hades.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood.**

"Moody!" Apollo and Hermes sang. Percy shrugged.

"I guess." He replied simply, a small smile on his face.

The Stolls snickered. "Actually, we're pretty sure you're bipolar." They told him in unison. Percy huffed, crossing his arms childishly.

"Am not," he pouted cutely. Annabeth kissed his cheek, and he immediately brightened.

"Sorry, Seaweed Brain, but it's true," She told him. Percy pouted again, proving her point.

**One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.**

"Sheesh. Talk about a lot of bad weather," Apollo laughed.

Percy shrugged. "_Weather _or not it was, I'm okay," he joked. Thalia laughed.

"You're very _punny_, Perce." She snickered. Percy high-fived her.

**One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"Someone's grouchy." Aphrodite laughed, and the gods glared while the demigods snickered.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.**

"Like you are when you wake up?" Annabeth asked. Percy rolled his eyes.

"And you are before you go to sleep." He said back. She scowled.

"And how you're whiny before you sleep." She snapped.

"Lover's quarrel!" Aphrodite cooed. The pair blushed, and looked down.

**My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Annabeth glared at Percy. "You never told me you had Fs." She told him. Percy shrugged.

"I never thought it was important." He said with an eye roll. Annabeth scowled while Athena looked horrified. Her daughter was dating someone so idiotic?

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends.**

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Ares and the Clarisses shouted. The others rolled their eyes at them.

**I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

"Bad Percy!" Thalia scolded the child on her lap. "You have to try!"

P.J. went wide eyed and innocent. "I try! But the kids call me a bunch of bad words that I can't say it 'cause my mommy says not to." He stuttered cutely, eyes looking up at Thalia. The demigods went wide eyed, getting the gist of what he meant? That was really mean, especially to a demigod. Thalia squeezed him tighter.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot.**

The demigods snickered, and the Stolls and Leo high fived Percy.

**I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

The Annabeths giggled. "It means old drunk," they said. Everyone laughed while Athena beamed at her child with pride.

"Like Dionysus!" Percy suggested. Dionysus glared at him, but Percy remained unfazed. He had seen worse than that glare that Dionysus was throwing at him.

"Wine Dude!" Nico yelled. Dionysus turned too glared at him, but he, unlike Percy, shrunk into his seat.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

Hestia sighed. "Poor Percy…" she mumbled to herself, knowing that he wouldn't want sympathy. Percy was an awesome hero like that.

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

"Is wittle Percy homesick?" Jason cooed sarcastically. Percy and P.J. glared, before smirking.

"Yes," they said in unison. "We are." Jason scowled. It was no fun if they didn't fight back.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

P.J. let out a whimper, and Percy snarled at the mention of his step-father, the Earth shaking a little with a small Earthquake which made everyone go wide eyed with his power. Everyone except Grover stared at them. They never heard about this. Annabeth knew about the step-father, but not how bad it was.

P.J. shrank into Thalia's arms, wrapping his arms around her waste as memories flashed through his mind. His body made a shudder, and he tugged on his jacket to hide a few wounds better. He hoped the book didn't mention what happened, because they would surely tell his mother, and he couldn't have that.

Percy glared intensely at the book. All those years of torture for nothing. All those years of putting up with that idiot, and it turns out his mother was trying to protect him, when in all honesty, he made it worse. And he didn't tell his mom to protect her, but she got hurt anyways.

The future demigods exchanged looks. Maybe they would finally find out Percy's secret past. Did this have something to do with the bruises and the fear? How bad was it? It couldn't be worse than theirs, right? At least, they hoped. P.J.'s actions didn't help boost their hopes very much.

Poseidon stared at his son… or sons. What did happen at home? He wasn't aloud to check up on him, thanks to that dumb ancient law. What made him so…. depressed? Scared? Hestia sighed though. She had been watching.

P.J. let out another whimper, driving Percy over the edge. A huge Earthquake started, knocking everyone off their chairs. The Earth continued to tremble with Percy's power, as he glared so harshly at the book it should have turned to dust. The gods were wide eyed. He was the first demigod Son of Poseidon able to make Earthquakes. He shouldn't be this strong! Even though he was the Greatest Hero of all Time…

What was surprising to the futures was that he was reacting so much to such a small thing. Or maybe it wasn't such a small thing. They had rising suspicions that maybe Percy was… well, you'll find out.

The past heroes were pretty peeved that they couldn't do anything to stop it. Hercules pushed down to try and even it out, Theseus and Orion tried to join him, even Pursues. It just wouldn't work.

Annabeth hobbled over and wrapped Percy in a warm hug. At first, he stiffened, but eventually he relaxed into her arms, hugging her back fiercely like a lifeline. She sat him down as he buried his face in her hair, and as she hugged him, for the first time feeling salty tear drops hit her neck, as she abruptly realized this was the first time she had seen him cry. Ever. Something really bad must have happened at home to bring him all the way to tears merely being reminded of it.

"Sorry," he murmured into her hair, his voice trembling. She shook her head.

"It's not you're fault, Seaweed Brain," she whispered to him, before turning to the others.

"Just go," she mouthed to them. They obliged as they got to their seats. Annabeth began playing with Percy's soft, ruffled raven black locks, smiling as she ran her fingers through it. His hair was soft.

**And yet… there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, **

Grover smiled at Percy, who still had his head buried in Annabeth's hair. "Thanks dude."

"Anytime, G-man." Percy mumbled against Annabeth's hair, still hugging her like a vice. The past versions of them smiled at each other, P.J.'s being forced with the memories and reminders of Gabe.

**even if he was a little strange.**

"I take it back," Grover huffed. Percy rolled his eyes, pulling his face away from Annabeth's hair. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, but no one mentioned it. They knew he would be embarrassed.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

"I wouldn't be there," Grover shrugged. Percy huffed.

"I know that now." He muttered, and the others snickered at him. They were glad he was back to normal now.

"Really?" Thalia suggested light-heartedly, trying to help improve his mood further.

Percy shrugged. "I do know it. Just like I know that you're afraid of-" she whacked her hand over his mouth, motioning for her father to continue.

**I'd miss Latin class, too- Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

Percy smiled at that. It was really nice that someone was actually encouraging him instead of putting him down for once. It seemed like hurting his feelings was everyone's favorite pass-time. He sighed. People really need to think about how he feels when they say something mean like that.

P.J. looked shocked. A teacher actually caring for him? That seemed like a dream. Even if he was only a first grader, no one, not even at military school, had actually tried to really help him.

The looks on the Percys' faces surprised the others. It was as if they weren't used to being cared for. They were cared about, right?

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

Annabeth huffed. "Seaweed Brain…" she muttered as she curled up into his chest. Percy chuckled, kissing the top of her head lightly.

"Wise Girl." He mumbled back to her, and she giggled.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"Good," Poseidon told him. "Because it is,"

"I know!" Percy huffed, before laughing quietly. "I'm saying that more today than I ever have before." Thalia snickered.

"You just called yourself an idiot." She told him. Percy glared.

"I didn't mean it like that!" he exclaimed at her. Nico decided to join in their fun.

"You didn't mean to blow up the dunk-tank at Camp either, did you?" he asked, referring to the Circus Day they had after the war.

Percy glared at him. "Okay, random people dangling over water. It's only natural that I make it grab them and pull them in. It just… overflowed." he told Nico. Clarisse, Katie, and Chris glared at him.

"Not very nice, by the way!" They snapped. Percy shrugged.

"I got to use my water powers for fun sometimes, right?" he asked. "I mean, even Annabeth would probably do something like that if she could. It's just too fun," he paused. "Of course, with the amount of times I did it, I practically passed out when I went to sleep." He exchanged a look with Nico.

"With great power comes a great need to take a nap!" They chorused. Thalia smirked.

"No one knows that better than a Big Three Child." The children of the Big Three nodded.

"Wait…" Annabeth came to a realization. "You said, 'even Annabeth would do something like that,'" she started. "Are you calling me a killjoy?"

Percy backtracked. "No, no, no!" he told her. "I just-"

She kissed his cheek to cut him off. "I was kidding, Seaweed Brain." He blushed while the others snickered.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room.**

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" Annabeth screamed, sliding off of her boyfriend's lap furiously. Percy winced.

"Sor"

"Don't you sorry me! You of all people should know to never throw books!" she screeched, glaring at him.

"I… uh… do?"

"Yes, you do!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Percy sighed. "I do now…" he trailed off. She continued to glare at nothing, turned away from him. She was infuriated.

"Sorry." He told her. She huffed, tapping her foot. "Sorry!" he tried again. She shook her head. He grabbed her shoulder, turning her to face him.

"Please?" he asked, putting out his bottom lip and widening his sea-green eyes innocently, looking adorable. She sighed, sliding back onto his lap.

"I can't stay mad at you…" she murmured. Percy grinned.

Aphrodite squealed. "Adorable!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. Everyone else sighed. Oh, Aphrodite.

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.**

"That stinks," the gods chorused. The demigods nodded.

"You have no idea," they drawled in unison. Annabeth huffed.

"And I finally found a book Percy might read too. Until he saw how long it was," she sighed. Everybody stared at her with wide eyes, while Percy's face turned a rosy shade of pink. He was adorable when he blushed.

"How?" Thalia asked, her voice an octave higher than usual. "I thought he was like, allergic or something."

Annabeth shook her head. "I made him watch Harry Potter. He was excited to read about someone with a life almost as bad as his," she told them. Everyone 'ah'ed with understanding.

"But Harry's life isn't as bad…" Athena mused. Percy shrugged.

"Close enough,"

**There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

Chiron glared at Percy, as he shrugged.

"I definitely do now." Percy told them with a laugh. Nico, Annabeth and Grover nodded.

"Charon actually considers you a friend," Nico added. Percy made a creepy face.

"Bribery is always the answer," he grinned. The Stolls laughed manically in the background for him.

"Creepy," Leo drawled. Thalia laughed.

"That's nothing. You should see him when you wake him up earlier than six. He's scary," she shivered to prove her point.

The gods stared at the hero in awe. They brushed off his going to the Underworld as if it were nothing. Weird.

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

"It's easy," Jason bragged, chin held high. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We're Greek, Grace," Katie snapped. Jason huffed.

"Besides, I can now!" Percy chirped cheerfully. The Greeks looked at him oddly.

"Seriously?" Thalia asked.

Percy nodded. "Yup! Watch!" He then went into some random rant in Latin that went on seemingly forever. The Romans snickered, full out laughing by the end of it.

"What did he say?" Annabeth asked, mad she didn't understand something that her boyfriend did.

Hazel giggled. "You don't wanna know," was all she could get out before laughing again.

Annabeth glared at Percy. "Seaweed Brain, what did you-"

"Nothing!" he burst out, a little too innocently. Annabeth sighed.

"You can be so annoying sometimes." She shook her head, leaning back into his chest. Percy chuckled.

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

As soon as that was said, Percy went wide eyed, letting out a little yelp. Everyone turned to look at him, face flushed as he bit his lip, embarrassed from all the attention.

"Read!" he burst out, covering his mouth with a hand to prevent making more noise. Everyone raised an eyebrow.

"MUST I SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU? I FEEL WHAT I READ IN THE STORY!" he exclaimed, biting his lip afterwards. Everyone nodded quickly, wanting to return to the book.

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression,**

Percy let out a growl of frustration, and eyes turned on him once again.

"What, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked him, eyes wide. He looked like he was about the start doing the chicken dance or something strange like that. Percy bit his lip so tightly it looked like it would bleed.

"The feeling isn't gone," he squeaked, covering his mouth again. The Stolls snickered.

"Got you!" they exclaimed, revealing an Ant Farm from behind their backs. Percy's eyes narrowed into a glare, but he said nothing in fear of embarrassing himself. Annabeth spoke for him.

"You little weasels!" she screamed, throttling them by the throats. Their eyes widened in terror. "Get the ants off of my boyfriend now!"

They nodded furiously. "We were just getting to it, right Conner?" Travis asked nervously, fingers twitching.

"Right," Conner agreed, eyes wide in fear. They walked forward, approaching Percy and-

Ripping off his shirt.

"Their gone!" Percy shouted victoriously, standing up in victory "Wait, what?"

"They were on the shirt," The Stolls deadpanned. Percy rolled his eyes.

"I hadn't noticed." He drawled sarcastically. "_How_ did they get on the shirt?" he asked them. The Stolls grinned.

"A secret, my friend." They spoke in unison. Percy let out a very un-Percy-like growl.

"I'm going to kill you," he grumbled, before turning to the others who were, well, staring at him.

They were staring at his tan six pack, his rock hard abs, his lithe swimmers body. Since when did Percy have a perfect body and why didn't they know?

"What?" he asked. Artemis, being the man-hater, snapped out of it first and flashed him on a shirt. Everyone broke out of their stupor, seeing Percy in a whole different light. Annabeth smirked at them, sticking out her tongue as she leaned back into his chest. He was hers.

**his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**

"Why does everyone expect so much from me?" Percy questioned, eyes narrowed into a glare directed at nothing in particular. Annabeth shrugged.

"You're Percy," she told him simply.

"What's that supposed to mean? You guys keep saying that!" he asked. The others shrugged, before Thalia handed him a book.

"Wha-"

"Read page 172." They told him in unison. He opened to the title to read 'The Dictionary to All Things Demigod,' By: the Demigods.

_Page 172 - Percy to Polybotes _

_Percy Jackson– 1) A Son of Poseidon constantly known for getting in trouble and making last minute plans that somehow work out in the end, 2) Someone who puts themselves in danger for the safety of others; a hero, 3) The Greatest Hero of All Time, 4) A very, very, very hot guy 5) A loyal person who would give up their life for others 6) someone you look up to; a brother-like figure 7) A very powerful person. Synonyms: Brave, Loving, Compassionate, Stubborn, Loyal, Heroic, Powerful, Hot, Gorgeous, Amazing, Modest…_

The description went on and on. By the end of it, Percy was blushing his head off, and the others were grinning wildly at him –except Jason and Luke, of course.

"It was supposed to be a secret, though…" the Stolls muttered, disappointment tinting their voices.

"Oh… so it's a complement…" he mumbled. Annabeth nodded.

"Yup. You're so Percy, Percy," she replied slyly. Percy grinned, kissing her nose lightly.

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

"Good boy," Annabeth patted his head like a dog. Percy huffed.

"I'm not a dog," he mumbled, blushing. Annabeth grinned.

"No, but you _have_ a huge dog," She told him. Percy shrugged.

"Mrs. O'Leary is awesome." He replied. The gods, pasts, heroes, and P.J. went cross eyed.

"Who?" Hercules asked, bewildered.

"Percy's pet hellhound," Thalia told them simply. They gaped at Percy.

"Pet?" P.J. asked excitedly. "I finally get a pet!" he jumped up from Thalia's lap, one fist in the air. "Woo hoo!"

"I let you keep a hellhound?" Hades questioned. He was ignored.

"Not one pet, but two." Percy replied. "I also have a Pegasus named Blackjack."

"I have a storm spirit names Tempest," Jason bragged. Percy shrugged.

"Cool," Percy complemented. Jason huffed.

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before.**

"There's your problem!" Athena exclaimed, waving her hands around hysterically, glad to have proved the sea spawn wrong. "You don't study, idiot!"

Annabeth normally would have agreed, but when she called him an idiot, she was joking. She wasn't going to let anyone insult her Percy, not even her mother. She could tell by how Percy's shoulders slumped, it was beginning to get to him.

"Percy isn't an idiot, mother!" Annabeth screamed, leaning forward on Percy's lap. Percy looked shocked as she stood up for him, causing her to wonder how many of her teases he actually believed. "He's actually smart, in his own way! Without him, we'd all be dead ten times over!" she continued. Everyone stared at her in awe for standing up to a goddess. "So I suggest you stop talking like that," she finished with a snarl, leaning back into her boyfriend with a huff.

Athena glared slightly, but turned away, her pride wounded. How dare her daughter say those things to her? She crossed her arms over her chest, giving a soft huff, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Thanks for that," Percy whispered, hugging Annabeth tighter into his chest. His breath on her neck sent chills down her spine.

A smile crept onto her lips. "No problem," she mumbled back. "I hadn't realized how many times we called you that until…" she trailed off, but felt Percy nodded against her head as he set his own head on hers. She grabbed one of his hands, intertwining their fingers.

**Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. **

"I had no idea what low self-esteem you had, Perce," Hazel mused quietly. Percy shrugged at her.

*"Like I said, I'd been raised that way," He told them. P.J. nodded in agreement, a soft sigh escaping his lips. God –or gods, why was his life so miserable? He just wanted to be normal for Zeus's sake! (He had a hard time adjusting to this gods thing, too). Oh yeah, and let's not forget the fact that there would most likely be a lot of screaming from older him. Can't forget that, can he?

**I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"Who's the teacher's pet now?" Clarisse asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in satisfaction. Percy's eyes narrowed slightly at her, jade orbs dancing with not-so-well hidden anger. He wasn't necessarily the best at that…

"I suggest you zip it before you really find out how much of a teacher's pet I am," Percy snapped through gritted teeth, leaning forwards dangerously. Annabeth shifted uncomfortably on his lap, not wanting to get between the two in a fight.

Clarisse smirked, somewhat used to his glare. "Is that a threat, Prissy?" she questioned, quirking an eyebrow. Percy shrugged.

"Did it sound like a threat?" he asked casually, a bit of sarcasm hidden beneath his words. Clarisse smirked.

"Not necessarily, including we all know you to much of a princess to go through with it," she reminded him. Percy's eyes narrowed sharply, a soft flinch coming from her.

"Sorry, Mr. Loyalty, but I'm not afraid of you. In case you haven't notice, you can't hurt me. Fatal flaw, remember?" she asked. Percy's eyes narrowed further, but he motioned for Zeus to continue.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

"Someone left the door open," Leo sang, everyone turning to look at the blushing satyr, who was currently looking anywhere but them.

"Hehe," Grover tried to sound dismissive, but failed. "Whoops?"

Annabeth sighed. "You're worse than Percy at keeping secrets," she sighed. Percy glared.

"Hey! I can keep a secret!" he yelped, offended. Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Sure you can," Thalia drawled. "You're the bluntest guy on the planet,"

"I kept your secret!" he exclaimed. "Besides, I'm better than…" he trailed off, scanning the crowd of faces for an example. "Leo!"

Leo, who had currently been zoning out, turned to look at him at the sound of his name. "Wha?" he asked, eye crossing in front off his face. "Someone say my name?"

"I'll give ya that," Thalia conceded with a soft sigh. Percy looked smug, but it was short lived as he remembered he was still technically the second bluntest person in the room.

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "… worried about Percy, sir."**

"Aren't we all?" Nico asked, almost to himself. Everyone snickered at the son of Poseidon's expense as he pouted.

"Okay, no fair! Why are you guys all normal suddenly?!" he asked loudly. The other demigods grinned evilly, almost sadistically. It slightly resembled a grimace.

"Because we feel like it." They told him. Percy sighed.

"Well, it was good while it lasted," he mumbled mournfully. Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"You mean a chapter?" she asked him. Percy looked thoughtful for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah," he nodded again, as if he were agreeing with himself.

"Are they always like this?" Hercules whispered, not-so-discreetly. The futures all nodded.

"You bet we are!" they chorused. The past demigods stared at them blankly, completely confused at the mere though of actually acting normal. It seemed impossible for them.

**I froze.**

"I see," Hermes mused. "Eavesdropping. The most amazing thing in the world, next to thievery." He muttered, scheming silently in his mind.

"I wasn't-" Percy started.

"Yeah, you were," Grover reminded him.

Percy huffed. "Well," he muttered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Grover rolled his eyes at his friend's childishness.

Thalia turned to the younger kids. "You see what we all have to live with?" she asked, gesturing to Percy with her hands. Percy looked indignant.

"Hey!" he yelped. He was ignored.

"Oh boy." Luke sighed to himself. He piped up louder, in a more cheerful and totally fake voice. "We always love new campers!" he exclaimed, going for cheerful.

_Stop trying so hard, _a cold voice whispered in his mind. Luke decided to tone it down then, his cheerful level going down a notch, around his normal tone.

"What I meant was, we always need new additions to the family." Luke said, ruffling the nearest demigod –who happened to be Beckendorf's- hair. It was extremely awkward with Beckendorf being taller than him, even though he was a few years younger. Beckendorf raised an eyebrow at him.

"You okay, Luke?" Beckendorf asked the suspicious blonde. Luke nodded.

"Yup," he stated casually. "Just fine,"

The futures rolled their eyes, knowing what was causing the odd behavior. Maybe Luke wasn't as smooth as they had originally thought of him.

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

At that moment, everyone from the future, or those who had gotten to know P.J., burst out laughing as the two demigods blushed, turning their cheeks a rosy color down to their ears. Annabeth let out a giggle before even trying to speak.

"Percy, you're almost as bad as Nico in the eavesdropping department." She reminded him, ruffling his hair. Percy blushed an even deeper shade of pink.

"I am not!" he yelped, trying to sound sure of himself. The blush kind of ruined his stubborn demeanor.

"I dunno," Silena whispered to Beckendorf, taking a subtle glance at the Stolls. "Those two are pretty bad," she remembered. Beckendorf nodded.

"Theseus is pretty bad with eavesdropping as well," Orion tried, looking down as everyone turned to look at him. He shrugged off the odd looks he was getting.

"Just wanted to put it in there," he told them quietly. After a few more odd glances, they returned to the book.

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"True," everyone chorused with a sigh. Both sets of Stolls grinned cheekily.

"Don't deny the awesomeness of sneaking," they chorused. The older Stolls each high fived their younger clone, the younger's themselves grinning proudly, as if their older selves were some famous celebrity or such.

"I'm never washing my hand again," they muttered to themselves.

**I inched closer.**

"Bet they caught you!" Apollo bet, grinning mischievously. Hermes turned to him.

"I don't know," he drawled. "I think we should give the kid a chance," he chided, rubbing his hands together as if warming them up. A sardonic grin overtook his elfish features, his blue eyes twinkling with a strange light of knowledge.

Apollo held out his hand, palm up. There were fifty golden coins within it. "Deal," he told him.

"I don't think the kid can do it," Hercules suggested, a tint of smugness in his voice. Little Katie shrugged.

"I think he can," she told him, standing proudly up against Hercules. Hercules glared down at the young girl.

"You really think so?" he asked in a soft yet deadly tone. Katie shrugged, not even effected.

"If I can beat the Stolls in a bet, I sure as Hades can beat you," she told him proudly, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. Her hair swished as she moved.

Hercules held out his hand firmly, her smaller hand going within it. Older Katie grinned.

"Congrats, Katie. You stood up to Hercules," Percy told her, giving her a high five. Katie grinned.

"I'm awesome, aren't I," she told him. The Stolls rolled their eyes, but said nothing.

**"… alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"**

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him." Chiron chided softly, oblivious to the stares he was receiving. "We need him to mature more,"

Poseidon let out a hearty laugh as Chiron said this, causing even odder looks to be cast his way. Poseidon merely grinned and continued to read.

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

It was everyone else's turn to laugh once this was read, the centaur that had spoken blushing at the similarities. A snicker escaped Lee's lips.

"It seems as though things never change, huh?" Lee questioned Chiron. Chiron grinned at one of his favorite students, embarrassment forgotten.

**"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline- "**

"Huh?" the past heroes questioned. The others raised an eyebrow.

"Today," Athena told them, drawing out her voice as if they were mere children. The past heroes huffed.

"We aren't imbeciles," they corrected.

"Then why exactly did you need to as, punks?" Young Clarisse questioned, quirking an eyebrow. The past heroes narrowed their eyes at the daughter of Ares.

"Why you little-" Hercules started, but was interrupted as a spear nearly impaled his hand. Everyone turned towards the thrower, coming face to face with a clearly angry Clarisse.

"Don't you dare threaten mini me." She snarled. "Understood?" the past heroes nodded swiftly. Young Clarisse smiled slightly. It was almost as If she had an over protective big sister.

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"What ignorance?" P.J. questioned under his breath, staring down at his hands with furrowed eyebrows.

"You'd be surprised," Young Annabeth shrugged, punching him playfully on the shoulder. P.J. pretended to be hurt, rubbing it softly and trying to hide the small flinch she had gotten from him.

Young Annabeth, however, noticed. What had caused him to flinch. She studied him skeptically, but he gave her a dismissive wave once he had noticed.

**"Sir, he saw her… ."**

"You bet I did," Percy scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Annabeth let out a sigh.

"We know, Percy," she told him, rolling her intimidating grey eyes. Percy shrugged, a soft smile creeping onto his lips.

"Well, you know everything, don't you?" he asked her. She rolled her eyes at his cheesiness, leaning back into his chest.

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"You do have a pretty wild imagination," Thalia mused quietly. Piper decided to ad something.

"Probably not as wild as Repair Boy's over here," Piper piped up, ruffling said boy's hair as he himself looked smug.

"I do have a pretty wild imagination," he grinned.

"That wasn't a compliment," Piper scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully. Leo let out a puff of air, muttering something about worthless friends.

"Don't I know it," Percy told him cheekily. They grinned at each other from their spots.

**"Sir, I … I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

"Yes, satyr," Zeus snarled. "I would vaporize you faster than you could blink.' Grover whimpered as he said that, while young Grover lowered his head in shame.

"He didn't fail!" Thalia snapped at her father. "I chose my own fate. I wouldn't have it any other way," she spoke defiantly, eyes narrowed sharply into slits. Zeus let out a huff, but said nothing.

"Thanks," Grover muttered to her. She grinned softly.

"Any time."

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"What!" Poseidon yelped in surprise. Percy winced, yet he nodded.

"Yeah, whoops?" Percy held his hands up sheepishly, his hands pointed outwards as he shrugged his shoulders.

Poseidon turned to Grover. "You better protect my son or else-"

"Dad! I'm fine, okay?" Percy asked soothingly. Poseidon nodded.

"Sorry. I just don't want to lose you," he mumbled. Percy grinned slightly, glad his dad cared for him, while other demigod's stared on with a slight jealousy in their eyes, Their parents never gave them that much love.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

"Pay up!" Apollo and Hercules shouted, holding out their hands to their respective gambler. The other two, however, gestured towards the book.

"It's not over yet," they drawled quietly, grinning in the direction of the book.

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

Hercules and Apollo raised eyebrows, but Katie and Hermes merely grinned wider.

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

"Good, don't leave evidence," Hermes muttered with a grin, seeing the tables slowly turn back in his favor. He caught Percy's eyes, who gave a small nod and a smile.

Hermes winked at Katie in triumph, who grinned even wider as well, sending a smug look in Hercules direction, who's face became clouded with confusion.

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"'Twas an archer's bow," Nico said solemnly, straightening up to look like a teacher, pretending to have a ruler in hand. "Such goes the ways of Sagittarius,"

"Sagittarius?" Leo questioned, both eyebrows up in his hairline.

"Isn't that Chiron's constellation in the zodiac?" Percy asked Annabeth. She turned to him with wide eyes.

"You said something smart!" she yelped with surprised. Percy grinned, a look of triumph etched onto his face.

"So I was right?" he asked with a smile. She nodded, grabbing his hand.

"YOU LISTENED!" she yelled, giving a whoop of happiness.

"Ow!" Percy hissed. "I'm right here,"

"Right…" Annabeth muttered sheepishly, blushing down her neck. Percy grinned at her embarrassment, kissing the top of her head.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

"Good," Hermes muttered. The Stolls were taking notes on his behavior. Percy and the others rolled their eyes.

"You guys are worse than Theseus," Perseus mumbled slightly. Perseus rolled his eyes, but the Stoll brothers merely grinned.

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

"Seriously, Chiron. It's as if you want him to find out," Young Chris sighed. Chiron sighed.

"I most likely thought the mist would cover me up, child," Chiron preached with a tint of exasperation in his voice. Chris made an 'ah' of understanding.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

"Sweat drop!" Nico exclaimed, his face alight in the same way it had been when he was ten. Everyone raised eyebrows at him.

"Wha?" everyone asked in a chorus, their eyes flooded with the confusion they felt. Nico rolled his eyes, as if he couldn't believe that they didn't get it.

"You know. That 'Oh my gosh, seriously?' sweat drop? Like in comics?" he asked, waving his arms around in a silly manner.

"Nico, you're obnoxious child side is showing," Percy scolded. Nico went wide eyed.

"Not again," he moaned. Percy shrugged.

"Sorry dude,"

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"What happened at the summer solstice?" Young Annabeth asked curiously, turning to P.J. as if he would know.

"Does it look like I have a clue?" Percy asked in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air. Young Annabeth shrugged.

"Well you're the one in the story," she said logically. Percy huffed, but said nothing in reply.

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn …"**

"That there was a giant hippopotamus in your closet?" Travis asked him, wiggling his arms up in the air.

"And he's going to suck your soul out of your mouth?" Conner continued, following his brother's example. Everyone leaned away from them, even the younger versions of themselves, who were currently questioning their future self's sanity.

"Are they okay?" Theseus questioned. The futures shook their heads solemnly.

"Definitely not." They spoke in unison. The future Stolls put a hand to their chest in mock offense, letting out soft scoffs.

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

"Don't remind me," Young Grover mumbled, glaring at nothing. Poseidon let out a chuckle.

**"Don't remind me."**

Once Poseidon read that, laughter erupted throughout the throne room. Grover blushed down to his horns, his eyes directed at the floor.

"Things really don't change," Hercules chuckled. Everyone stared at him oddly. "What, I can participate." He told them. Everyone gave him one last glance before moving on.

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

"Ha!" Katie and Hermes yelped, holding out a hand to collect their bets. "Pay up!"

Apollo and Hercules let out grumbles, but handed out their respective drachmas to the other two, who grinned and high fived. The gods thought it was odd seeing the two getting along, but carried on with the reading. After all, Hermes was Hermes.

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

"Oh come on, it's not like your in Tartarus," Hera scoffed. Percy rolled his eyes.

"it's a figure of speech, Peacock Woman." Percy huffed. Hera looked offended and slightly shocked, before glaring at the impertinent boy in front of her.

"Why you little-"

Poseidon started reading to avoid having his son be vaporized.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

"Thank the gods," P.J. muttered. "I hate tight spaces."

"You bet," Percy nodded, giving a small shiver. Everyone turned to him.

"You're claustrophobic?" Hazel asked. Percy blushed and bit his lip, nodding.

"Huh." Frank paused. "Makes sense."

"Yup," Thalia added, giving Percy a quick glance. Percy paled, knowing what that specific look meant. Twitching lips. Soft lines by eyes. Clenching fingers. It meant revenge.

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

"Smooth, G-man," P.J. –who had long since snuck away from Thalia's lap- told younger Grover, who had been bonding with his future best friend already.

Grover grinned. "Thanks, Perce."

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

"Nope." Percy nodded surely. Grover grinned as well, as if agreeing.

**I didn't answer.**

"Ignoring isn't nice," the Stolls chimed in. Percy rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't ignoring. I was thinking up a lie," he sighed. Annabeth smirked.

"Don't hurt yourself." She drawled in a singsongy voice.

"Hey!"

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

"Does it seem like he's okay?" Poseidon interrupted himself, worried for his son's safety. Everyone ignored him, used to his protectiveness by now.

**"Just… tired."**

"Sure," Young Will drawled. "And I'm a satyr."

"Are you?" Orion asked. Will blinked.

"Well, no!" he exclaimed, shock that the hero had believed it oozing from his voice. Orion blushed.

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

"Putting on my P.J.s, brushing my teethes, getting' all ready for beddy bye." Hephaestus cooed in a soft voice. Everyone gave him an odd look, wide eyed and open mouthed, leaning away from the god as if he were a time bomb waiting to explode in a shower of car parts.

"Umm…" Leo asked his father. "Are you okay?"

Hephaestus nodded, as if that had never happened. "Yup. Just find," he replied absentmindedly. Poseidon cleared his throat before continuing.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

"Seriously," Annabeth deadpanned in disbelief. "Percy, get with the program!" she yelped. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Sorry." He sighed with exasperation. Annabeth nodded, believing him.

"Good."

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. **

"Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless you share with everyone!" Octavian yelped, twisting off the head of a teddy bear.

"Secrets don't make friends!" Ethan exclaimed. Luke looked down, the words echoing through his head.

_Maybe I should tell them… _he thought quietly. He shook the thoughts from his mind. He was not going soft.

**They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

"You are, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth sighed, shaking her head. Percy rolled his eyes.

"I know that now." He reminded her. She shrugged.

"Just checking."

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"Three hours!" everyone yelped, except for Athena and Chiron.

"I'd rather die!" Leo screamed, his eyes wide with more fear then when he had faced Ma Gasket.

"I hate to admit it but I agree with Leo," Piper said in disbelief.

"That's terrifying." Annabeth whispered, burying her face in Percy's chest.

"Daughter, that isn't so bad." Athena scolded her daughter, hoping her daughter would agree with her. Annabeth shook her head.

"Actually, it's awful. Demigods are dyslexic and ADHD, mother. We can barely read, and when we can, we can't sit still for five minutes, much less and hour," Annabeth reasoned. Athena huffed.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

"Notice he relates things to water." Apollo added.

"Yeah, swimming." Hercules nodded. Everyone laughed at Percy's expense, while the hero himself blushed.

"I hadn't noticed," Orion, Theseus, P.J., and Poseidon chimed. Everyone rolled their eyes once they had calmed down.

"Of course you wouldn't" Demeter chided. "You Fish People all relate things to the sea." The 'Fish People' blushed.

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

"Phew. I am not giving away my money." Hermes said as he swiped imaginary sweat from his brow. Katie nodded in agreement, while Apollo and Hercules huffed in annoyance at the reminder of their failure.

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's … it's for the best."**

"Chiron!" Thalia chided. "You're going to make Percy feel bad!"

"How do you know?" Percy questioned her, quirking an eyebrow.

"You easily feel guilty," Nico stated as if it were obvious. Percy huffed.

"No I don't" he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest, as if trying to convince himself.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

"I'm going to kill her," Annabeth scowled. Percy was hers and hers only. No one was going to take away her Seaweed Brain.

"Calm down, Wise Girl." Percy sighed. Annabeth relaxed immediately at Percy's words, cuddling more into his chest.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

"Wow, you used your manners again." Annabeth blinked, bewildered. Percy sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess." He mumbled quietly, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Annabeth kissed his cheek.

"You're so cute," she told him, causing him to blush even more.

**"I mean …" Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

P.J. looked down at his hands, embarrassed. Yet another teacher telling him off. It seemed like he didn't fit in anywhere. A sigh escaped his lips. Why couldn't he just make it a year somewhere?

"Chiron!" Young Annabeth chided upon seeing her new friend sad. She was very defensive of him. "Don't say it like that."

Chiron, seeing the distress of the young hero, sighed. "Sorry, child." He replied honestly. Percy and P.J. gave soft smiles, and a quick nod.

**My eyes stung.**

Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand at this, hating seeing the distress Percy had been in. When he came to camp, she obviously hadn't helped. Scratch that, she had been a jerk to him. No wonder it took him so long to catch on to his crush. He had extremely low self esteem.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

"That stinks," Apollo conceded, not even noticing how obvious his statement was. Artemis whacked him in the back of the head.

"No dib, Sherlock." She hissed. Apollo rubbed the back of the head.

"Gee, sis." He mumbled. "You can hit." She smiled smugly at him, turning back to the book.

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

"Poor kid," Theseus sighed, letting his soft side show. Everyone blinked at him.

"I can be nice," he continued defensively. Everyone merely shrugged at him, while the past heroes turned away from him as if disgusted. He sighed. Why must his friends be jerks?

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say … you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

"Way to word it, Chiron," Nico sighed, shaking his head.

"It's better than Lupa," Frank added. "She just says. 'You're being hunted by monsters and one of your parents is a god. Show emotion and I'll eat you alive,'" he spoke in complete monotone, keeping his face blank. Percy nodded.

"So true." He said, shaking his head at the memory. The Romans chuckled while the Greeks looked at them oddly. They were laughing about that?

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.**

"Here it comes," P.J. mumbled quietly, looking down.

**"Percy-"**

"And there I go," P.J. finished.

**But I was already gone.**

"Like I said," P.J. told them. Percy laughed at their shocked faces, but quieted down at the odd looks he was given.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

"Fish Face," Katie chided. "You have to be orderly."

Percy shrugged in response. "Sorry. I was being pensive."

"Big word, Perce," Nico snickered. Thalia high-fived him, while Percy blushed.

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"Hey!" Everyone yelped. Percy grinned, scratching his eyebrow sheepishly.

"Sorry, didn't know," he told them. Everyone rolled their eyes, turning away from the embarrassed demigod.

"Sorry!" Percy yelped. No response. "Come on, I said sorry!"

Everyone burst out laughing, no longer able to contain their snickers. "Sorry, we were just messing with you." Percy blushed down to his toes as Thalia said that.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

"That sounds unimpressive compared to them." Ares snickered. Percy glared.

"Don't worry. I know," he said as if it were obvious, his eyes shooting miniature daggers at the war god. Ares paled. The look Percy was giving him promised pain.

"Geez, punk. Lighten up," he replied with a nervous chuckle. Percy merely continued to glare.

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

"You had a job at such a young age?" Hestia asked him. Percy shrugged.

"I had to in order to get money for Gabe," he said the name with venom, while everyone gave him odd looks. They had no idea who this Gabe he kept speaking of was, but they had a feeling he was nobody they would want to meet.

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

"AT least they have the guts to try and be nice," Hazel suggested, trying to find a bright side.

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"Never mind," she mumbled quietly, glaring at the floor. Percy nodded solemnly.

"Bullies are jerks," he told her. She nodded.

"Oh, I know." She told him. "But some of those guys are just jerks,"

Percy shrugged. "I guess. All demigods get bullied though, right?" he asked. The demigods nodded, while the gods and past heroes looked down. Was it really that bad?

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

"Coincidence? I think not," Leo said in an announcer's voice. Everyone snickered, while Percy rolled his eyes, and Grover blushed.

"He's not as bad of a stalker as Annabeth," he shrugged. Everyone turned to Annabeth, who was blushing.

"I wasn't stalking! I was following!" she yelped, the blush ruining the effect of her glare.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Sure. Looking in my bedroom window-"

"Continue!" Annabeth yelped, glaring harshly at Percy. Poseidon nodded, not wanting to get involved in his son's activities.

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

"Were you guys really that bad about being teased?" Hercules asked. Percy and Grover shrugged in unison.

"Yeah, I guess." Percy replied sheepishly. Everyone looked at them in pity, but they ignored it.

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

"You are so impatient," Annabeth sighed. Percy shrugged.

"ADHD, remember?" he asked. She rolled her grey orbs.

"I have it too, but I'm not that bad," she said with a sigh. Percy shrugged once again.

"I guess I'm just really bad with my ADHD." He responded, his shoulders giving a quick lift.

"He finally admits it!" Thalia exclaimed, standing up and clapping her hands together loudly, exaggerating the ordeal. Percy pushed her over, causing her to land on her face.

"You are so dead," she yelped. Her fingers began to crackle with electricity.

"Not now, guys," Nico sighed. The other Greek children of the Big Three calmed down, gesturing for Poseidon to continue.

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

Annabeth sighed. "Percy…" she started, obviously about to give him a long, drawn out rant.

"I know, sorry," he told her. She simply nodded.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"**

"Isn't it obvious?" Ares asked. Grover looked down, embarrassed. Percy immediately went to his defense.

"Not necessarily," Percy snapped. "He didn't know that I knew," Percy continued. Ares glared at him, about to open his mouth, but closed it when he saw Percy's creepy glare.

"Thanks Perce," Grover mumbled, even though Percy probably couldn't hear him.

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

"Dude!" Hermes yelped.

"Ha!" Apollo and Hercules exclaimed, throwing a fist in the air.

"Not so fast," Percy interrupted. "I admitted it. They didn't catch me,"

The happy faces left Apollo and Hercules, growing onto Katie and Hermes.

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

"Just the whole thing," Grover scowled. Percy shrugged sheepishly.

**"Oh … not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Yup, the whole thing," Zeus told them. Percy shrugged again, not meeting anyone's eyes.

**He winced. "Look, Percy … I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

"Dude, bad lie," Leo chided. Grover sighed, but nodded.

**"Grover-"**

"Yes?" Grover asked, raising an eyebrow at Poseidon. Poseidon shook his head.

"No, it's what the book says.

Grover blushed while everyone laughed. "Oh,"

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and …"**

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar," P.J. told younger Grover. Younger Grover blushed, while Poseidon laughed,

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

Everyone laughed at the similarities. "Yeah…" the demigods and gods, who had by now gotten used to Grover's terrible lying skills, drawled in unison. Grover and his younger self blushed cherry red.

"Whoops," he mumbled.

"I got it!" Hermes grinned. "I can teach you!" he told him. Percy went wide eyed.

"But then he'll be able to lie to me!" he yelped. A dismissive wave was all he got from the thief god.

"Next break, I teach you," Hermes demanded Grover, pointing his finger, his blue eyes surprisingly steeled. Grover nodded quickly, his head bobbing up and down like a bobble head's.

**His ears turned pink.**

"Like now!" Rachel pointed out. Everyone jumped, nearly forgetting she was there.

"Gods, Rach, your quiet today," Percy told her. She shrugged.

"Well, I wanna know what you life was like before," she replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Besides," she giggled. "His ears are pink," everyone turned to look and sure enough, Grover's ears were the rosy color. Everyone laughed.

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

"Which you will," Hades and Zeus spoke in unison, creepy smiles overcoming their faces. Everyone gave them odd looks.

"Oh he better not," Poseidon threatened. The other two gulped.

"We can't necessarily stop all of the monsters," Hades interrupted.

"Well try!" Poseidon snarled.

"Okay!" they squealed, their voices going up an octave. Poseidon gave a quick nod, before continuing.

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800) 009-0009**

"How did we get that phone number?" Leo asked the gods and Chiron. Chiron shrugged.

"The Camp has been around for decades. It's quite an early phone number." He told Leo. Leo nodded with understanding.

"Wait, we don't have a phone number." Reyna said, staring oddly at the Greek demigods. The Greeks all shrugged.

"You're stricter, I guess," Annabeth suggested.

"What I wanna know, is why the print is in cursive." Percy interrupted. All eyes turned to Dionysus, who was trying to conceal his snickers behind his hand.

"It's funny watching you try to read it," he snickered. He ignored the glares he received, gesturing for Poseidon to read.

**"What's Half-"**

"Don't say it out loud!"

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um … summer address."**

"Oh," P.J. mumbled, disappointment tinting his voice. So Grover was rich too. Why would Grover want to be his friend, then?

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"Seriously?" Grover asked. "You thought that?" he was blushing.

Percy nodded. "Yeah… I wasn't really used to friends." He muttered. Grover gave him a small smile.

"Best friends forever, though, right?" he asked. Percy nodded, giving him a fist bump.

"Always, G-man,"

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

"Not a mansion. Better," Percy replied, grinning now. The Greeks nodded in agreement.

**He nodded. "Or … or if you need me."**

"Or live there," Percy added. Leo made an odd face.

"Eww, that just gave me a perverted thought." Leo drawled. Percy and Grover grew green at the though.

"Eww, dude. Nasty." Grover and Percy scoffed in unison. They looked a little sick.

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Percy!" Annabeth snapped, slapping him in the back of the head.

"Sorry!"

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

"See!" he yelped, wincing at Annabeth's glare. Annabeth sighed.

"We never denied it, Seaweed Brain." She told him. Percy blushed a rosy color.

"Oh."

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."**

"That was pretty anticlimactic," Hercules scoffed. Everyone rolled their eyes at him, turning back to the book.

**I stared at him.**

"Someone's surprised," Leo laughed, holding his sides.

"It wasn't that funny, Repair Boy," Piper chided, rolling her eyes. Leo blushed.

"Oh."

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

"Seriously?" Everyone asked in unison.

"I'm not losing my first friend," Percy nodded, completely sure of himself.

"And his fatal flaw is loyalty." Thalia added. Percy blushed but nodded.

"Yeah. And that." He told them. Everyone made an 'ah' of understanding.

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"**

"Just a whole butt-load of vengeful monsters and the lord of the titans, thank you very much." Grover replied. Poseidon paled.

"It isn't really that much, right?" he asked with false hope in his voice. Percy sighed.

"Actually, it's worse." If possible, Poseidon's face became even paler as Percy said that.

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

"Right on cue," Annabeth mumbled quietly, before turning to whack her boyfriend on the back of the head. "Seaweed Brain, you jinxed it!"

Percy sighed, tapping the side of the couch a couple times. "There, I'm un-jinxed."

Annabeth sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked him, worry flooding her voice.

"Nice things?" Percy asked. She sighed once again.

"You bet," she told him before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

"Here it comes," Piper added, bracing herself for something bad along with everyone else.

**We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

"Fruit!" Demeter yelped, ignoring the ominous feel surrounding them. Hades got a crazed look in his eyes,

"No more fruit, women!" he yelled, almost as if he were ready to attack her.

"Calm your buns, Hades," Poseidon sighed. "My son is in danger!" he added, before continuing to read.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"Socks…" P.J. muttered, almost as if he were testing out the word. 'Why socks?"

No one had an answer.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

"NO!" Poseidon yelled, finally getting it. Everyone turned to him, eyes wide from the sudden outburst.

"What?" Athena asked, not used to being outsmarted by Poseidon of all people.

"T-t-the-" he choked out, but was unable to say it.

"Don't hurt yourself," Athena sighed in response.

Poseidon shakily continued, but his voice was unsteady.

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

"Oh…" Hercules mumbled, taking a soft sympathetic glance at Percy. He knew how the Fates could be. "The Fates."

"What!" Everyone yelped, looking at Percy with wide eyes. Percy looked down sheepishly, unable to meet their eyes.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, burying her face into Percy's chest. Percy clutched her tightly, still not looking at anyone. HE couldn't give away the book and comfort her though.

"Annabeth, I'm fine, okay?" he tried to comfort her, kissing the top of her head.

"But the Fates-"

"Haven't done anything yet," Percy reminded her, but didn't want to see her reaction when they cut Luke's cord. He gestured to his trembling father to continue, still comforting the girl in his arms.

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"No," Annabeth mumbled, her voice catching in her throat.

The past demigods were wide eyed. How was the kid alive if he saw the Fates. Young Grover let out a soft whimper, realizing he was most likely about to fail. Again.

P.J. stared at his future self in confusion. Why was his future self there if he were going to die? He was beginning to panic as he watched everyone act as if he were already dead.

The heroes were slightly mournful. Yeah, they hated the kid. But the Fates had dealt them all awful lives, and was about to take it from an innocent kid. Even they wouldn't go that far.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

No one even laughed at the mental image. The futures were to busy spazzing out over Percy.

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

"Yeah?"

"Grover…" Percy sighed. "Book."

"Right." Grover muttered, blushing, still depressed slightly.

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

"Please…" everyone muttered, crossing their fingers and squeezing their eyes shut.

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Not funny, Perce. Not funny at all," Thalia muttered.

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

No one laughed this time.

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

"No," Annabeth muttered, grabbing Percy's shirt in her fists.

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Come on," Poseidon interrupted himself, before continuing.

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

"Go…"

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

"No…" Thalia moaned, hugging her cousin tightly. "You can't die!"

Percy shifted uncomfortably. "I'm fine guys," he mumbled, trying to comfort the two girls comforting him. Jason and Luke glared, actually hoping the Fates would cut his string. Percy was stealing his sister, and stealing Luke's love interest.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.**

"No!" Annabeth and the others cried, as Annabeth buried her face in Percy's chest and began to cry. Percy immediately rushed to help her, rubbing soothing circles on her back as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Poseidon began muttering over and over. His son couldn't die.

P.J. stared at all of the events going on wide eyed. He was going to die. He was going to die. Gods, he was going to _die! _How was his future self acting so casual about this?

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for-Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"Not funny…"

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

Everyone let out a soft breath of air, but was still startled. Percy was going to die, now.

Percy sighed with exasperation. "Guys, I'm right here," he told them. "I'm not dead."

"How, though?" Hades asked him, puzzled. He wasn't necessarily sad, even though he would hate it if the young boy died. Percy shrugged.

"You'll have to find out."

Everyone calmed slightly, but it didn't help much.

**The passengers cheered.**

No one else did.

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

"Now you climb on," Thalia muttered, exasperated. No one answered.

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

At that, Percy grew a little green, as if he were about to throw up. Gods, he hated the curse.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

"Yeah?"

"The book, Grover."

"Oh. Right."

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Everything," Grover muttered, almost to himself. Everyone glared at him, motioning for Poseidon to continue.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

"Well-" P.J. started, but Young Annabeth cut him off.

"Not you, the book!" she hissed.

"Oh…" he drawled awkwardly. "Right,"

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like … Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"Worse," Annabeth muttered quietly.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

"Seems like Percy realizes it, too." Leo muttered, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost-older.**

"Observant," Athena mused to herself, glancing at her enemy's son. Maybe he wouldn't be too bad, after all.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

"No dib, Sherlock!" Thalia hissed, trying to contain sobs. Percy couldn't die! He just couldn't. He was like a brother to her.

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

"Yup."

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

"What last time?" P.J. asked. No one answered him.

**"What last time?"**

No comment.

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

"Seriously, what?" P.J. asked again.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

"Would have been nice to know," Percy mumbled quietly. No one said anything in response.

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

"It sounds like you're a couple," Leo tried to lighten the mood. It didn't work.

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"Good," Poseidon mumbled, giving a small nod while he contained sobs. He continued to glance at Percy, making sure he were really alive.

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

"No…" Percy answered himself quietly, knowing if he spoke louder he would be bombarded with questions.

**No answer.**

"Ignoring isn't nice," Percy mocked a previous statement sardonically. No one laughed.

**"Grover-that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

"Yes," replied a trembling Annabeth, her face still buried in Percy's chest. Percy's arms tightened around her, burying his face in her hair in attempt to comfort her.

"I'm here, it's okay," Percy muttered to her, his voice soothing like water over rocks. Annabeth sighed into his chest, her arms wrapping tighter around him, gripping him as if she were afraid he would disappear.

"Never leave me, again," she mumbled quietly, a tint of desperation in her voice. Percy nodded, setting his head on top of her own.

"Promise," he told her.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

That's how everyone else looked at that moment. Percy scowled deeply, his lips twitching. "Guys, I'm alive! How many times have people told me I'm going to die?" he asked them, his lips twitching in irritation.

"A lot…" they muttered in unison.

"Exactly," Percy reminded them with a nod and the tilt of his head, his features softening. "So just calm down, okay?"

Annabeth sighed, curling up farther into his chest. "We just.. worry about you, Seaweed Brain." She told him softly, a small from creeping onto her lips.

"I'm fine," he told her. He gave them all a small smile. "Now, I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's continue reading."

Thalia smiled, even though she was still slightly worried. "That sounded so wrong coming from your mouth."

"Agreed," Nico nodded.

Poseidon sighed, but believed his son as he handed the book to his other brother, Hades. Hades cleared his throat.

"**Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants..."**

**Tada!**

**Wow, it feels like that took forever. This chapter was kind of boring if you ask me, but oh well. I got it done for you!**

**Merry almost Christmas!**

**-Hannah, or PJO**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everybody!**

**Super sorry for taking so long! I feel super bad. I got a little… carried away with the abuse thing. But enough excuses, I updated, didn't I?**

**BE EXCITED! For those of you who are like me and enjoy when your favorite character gets attention, then be ready. Some of you have requested an awesome little Percy abuse thing, and don't worry; I was going to do it anyways. I love it when people do this, and have waited forever for one of my own. So be ready, it's gonna be dramatic! And angsty… ish. I love angst! MWAHAHAHAHA!**

**Oh, and I did post my Christmas thing, just for all ya'll wondering!**

**Song I'm listening to: Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series… Boohoo…**

**""Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants**," Hades read. He raised an eyebrow at the title, turning to the blushing satyr that everyone was currently laughing at.

"Excuse me?" Athena yelped, appalled. Her voice was barely heard above the laughter resounding about the room.

"You heard it right," Percy snickered, casting a quick smug glance at his best friend. "Gods, I never realized how funny that was until I listened to it outside of a life or death situation," he laughed.

Grover huffed. "Not funny man," he tried to glare at Percy, but the red cheeks didn't exactly help his situation.

Hades sighed at the immaturity of his family. "Twits," he muttered quietly to himself, but allowed a small smile, before reading. Just as he was about to begin reading, another flash filled the room, leaving in place a tall boy with a large scar marring his face. Blonde hair covered icy blue eyes and tan features, giving him a menacing look.

"Luke…" Annabeth breathed.

Said boy turned at the sound of his name, scowling at the sight of the lap she was sitting on, but quickly recovered with a daunting smirk.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Percy Jackson and his girlfriend. Took you two long enough," there was a bitter tinge in the end of his words. He pointed his sinister sword in the direction of the pair in a threatening manner.

"Are you okay, Luke?" Percy asked, shocked. He didn't have a problem with the Luke that had died, but this Luke still seemed to be evil.

Luke barked out a laugh. "Me? Okay? We're enemies, Percy! Of course, leave it to innocent little Percy to ask if the traitor is okay."

"Traitor!?" the past demigods.

"Enemies?" the gods.

"Innocent!?" Percy.

"How are you alive?"

Everyone turned to the speaker, coming face to face with none other then Thalia Grace, who had fallen into a state of shock at the sight of Luke, finally coming out to glare with those intimidating electric blue eyes of hers. Luke blinked once, then again, and again, before rubbing his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"A better question is how are you alive and not a tree –a dead one, at that?" Luke asked. Past Luke went into shock at that, ignoring the glares the past demigods were shooting him at the revelation of his loyalty to the wrong side. Killing Thalia wasn't in the plan.

"Percy saved me, Luke. Remember?" Thalia asked harshly, her eyes narrowing further.

"Wait!" Annabeth yelped. "This is after he poisoned you!"

"What?"

Annabeth sighed, explaining the situation to Luke, whose eyes narrowed. He realized, if Percy was alive, then that means they...

"We lost?" he snarled. The demigods of the future nodded, albeit smugly.

"Oh yeah, big time," Travis smirked.

"Not necessarily big time…" Nico drawled. Travis glared at him. "Well, it's true, I mean, Percy pretty much did most of the work," Cue blushing from Percy.

"Look, let's just read so we can get away from you brats sooner," Dionysus snarled. Hades obliged, not wanting an even grumpier Dionysus.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"Percy!" Annabeth groaned, slapping herself on the forehead. "Seriously?" she asked him in disbelief. The others weren't much different.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Sorry, but it's not like you wouldn't spaz if everyone around you was looking at you like this," he contorted his face into a fearful expression, with weary, slightly watery eyes and his lips turned downward, still parted. His nose crinkled somewhat, his hair shadowing his face. Everyone sighed, but agreed with him.

Percy nodded, returning his face to normal. "Exactly."

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

"Another excellent point, past me," Percy nodded, agreeing with himself. Annabeth put a flat hand to his forehead as If checking for his temperature. When Percy swatted her hand away, she grabbed his elbow and brought him to eyelevel.

She searched his eyes, pulling the side of it with her fingers. "You okay, Percy?" she asked, tilting his head in different directions in investigation. "You aren't talking to yourself for no reason, right?"

Percy leaned backwards into the couch to avoid her. "Annabeth, what are you doing?" he questioned warily, eyes never leaving her hands reaching for him.

She rolled her eyes. "Checking your temperature, Seaweed Brain. Duh!" she told him as if it were obvious. "Now answer my question."

Percy sighed. "And you call me crazy…" he muttered. She whacked him in the back of the head.

"I was kidding!" she snapped, glaring at him harshly. Percy's face dawned with realization.

"Oh…"

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

"Way to go, Kelp Head," Thalia sighed. "Now your going to get yourself killed."

"One can only hope…" Future Luke muttered.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I didn't know yet, okay?" he replied, giving her one of his best glares. She visibly flinched.

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

The Stolls snickered, beginning to jot down notes as quickly as they could on a random notepad and using a very familiar golden pen. Upon seeing said pen, Percy's eyes narrowed.

"Is that Riptide?" Percy asked lowly, his voice dangerous.

"Uhh… no?" the Stolls inquired, but it came out as more of a question. Percy held out his hand impatiently, to which the Stolls returned said pen, gulping slightly as they did so. They knew that wasn't the end of it.

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"Awesome,"

"Amazing,"

"The best!"

Complements rang about the room, bouncing off the walls as the gods stared at the young children in confusion. How could one mortal have such an effect on all of their children.

A single voice rang out. "Perfect," they all turned to face Percy, a wide grin on his face at the reminder of his mother. People smiled softly, ignoring the snickered f Ares –well, excluding the fact that Aphrodite smacked him across the face. But no biggy.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,**

"Cute!" Aphrodite squealed. Cue eye rolls.

**which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

"Percy, you do realize that goes for you too, right?" Annabeth asked her boyfriend, quirking a single delicate eyebrow. The boy mentioned shrugged sheepishly, a modest smile gracing his handsome features.

""I guess." He shrugged, obviously not in the mood for arguing. Something about his behavior told the demigods he was hiding something, and an important something at that. Even Hermes and Apollo could see it.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash**

Cue glares at Zeus, who even got a good dousing from Percy. Zeus looked down, oddly embarrassed. Maybe he realized he deserved it, maybe he was trying to hide the blush on his cheeks –one of his first blushes in years. The world may never know.

**when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

"That's so sad…" Aphrodite mumbled quietly, hugging P.J. to her chest. Everyone blinked, not knowing when the poor kid got there. Catching their eyes, he mouthed the word 'help,' Everyone merely shot him sorrowful expressions, trying to ignore the mournful look on poor P.J.s face. No one wanted to be used as Aphrodite's cuddle toy –sans Ares and Hephaestus and almost any other mortal man on the planet.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

Aphrodite's previous mood brightened, causing her to squeal with delight. "So cute!" she yelped, throwing her arms apart widely. P.J. dropped onto the goddess's lap, scampering away and over to the younger demigods.

Young Annabeth shot him a smirk. "So, enjoy yourself?" P.J. simply glared.

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.**

"You visited the boy!" Zeus exclaimed, turning to glare at his older brother. Instead of cowering, Poseidon nodded, his eyes not leaving Percy's, who had this cute happy smile on his face.

"I love my son. Of course I visited him" the gods looked down guiltily at that, not meeting the eyes of their children burrowing into them.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

"That so saaad," Aphrodite whined again.

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

"Oh, the irony," Hermes drawled. Everyone resisted the urge to face palm.

:That's the point, idiot." Athena sighed, rubbing her temples and pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache.

"Oh…"

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Not the truth… but not a lie either. Awesome! Can I-" Hermes and Apollo began together, silence by the furious eyes of Percy, Poseidon, and P.J.

"No!" they all snapped in unison. The two gulped, not wanting to get on the trios bad side.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

"Understatement," Luke coughed. He was glared at by everyone in the room, well, more then he already had been. Percy and P.J., however, simply shrugged.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him,**

"Now _that's_ an understatement," Percy corrected his previous agreement. P.J. nodded, glaring at the book as if he could make it explode and erase the past... or present, in his case.

**then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

"Eww…" guess who said that.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.**

Percy and P.J. sighed. It seemed as though their secret wouldn't be a secret for much longer. Luke, however, sneered at them.

"Please, it can't be that bad." He sneered, glaring at Percy at the reminder of his terrifying experiences with his mother.

"You have no idea," Percy mumbled, his eyes directed at the floor.

"Wanna bet? Do you know what it's like having your mother chase you around the house, screaming thing about your fate? Do you what it's like to have to hide in your own home? Do you know what it's like to cry yourself to sleep at night, remembering that your father left you with her? No, because your sweet little Percy Jackson that everyone adores and gets everything he wants with his cozy little childhood and perfect little-" he was interrupted as a fist collided with his face. He rubbed his jaw, seeing the furious eyes of Percy himself.

"I do wanna bet," he snarled. "Just wait. I'm sure you'll be eating your words soon enough," Percy snapped.

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

"Eww…." Can you guess again?

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"That's it?" Annabeth asked, furious. "That's it? Got any cash? What's wrong with him? I got more from my stepmother, Sue!"

Percy shrugged. "Gabe's a jerk,"

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**

No one laughed at the similarities between boyfriend and girlfriend. They had a feeling Luke was about to eat his words.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

"Yuck," Aphrodite hissed. "Not even I can fix that, and I'm the goddess of beauty."

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer.**

"Disgusting," the woman sneered. Percy nodded.

"You have nooo idea,"

**Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

Complete silence followed the statement, everyone turning to the disheartened Percys, who had separated themselves from their respective groups at the foreshadowing of his abuse. P.J. had buried his face in his arms –whether from shame or fear, they didn't know. Older Percy kept his expression stoic, hiding behind a mask. His fists clenched in his lap until his knuckles were white, his emotionless face hidden beneath his onyx locks.

Annabeth nudged him gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. A soft flinch went through Percy's already stiff frame, his shoulders tensing more than they had already been. Annabeth, despite the anxious situation, pushed on.

"Percy?" she asked, using the gentlest voice she could muster. Percy didn't answer. "Percy, did Gabe beat you?" she continued, squeezing his shoulder gently.

Percy's breathing became slightly ragged, and he swallowed a lump in his throat. His voice didn't seem to work for a few moments. "Yes…" he mumbled quietly, so soft Annabeth could barely hear him.

The single word caused pandemonium about the room. The futures immediately went into shock, guilt running about their minds. They all went to him for their problems, crying to him about how bad they had it, yet they never thought of his own past. Abuse had never even come to mind when they met Percy. He was just too… sweet.

P.J. pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms loosely around them and burying his face within them so they couldn't see his tears. He didn't want to see the looks of pity on his new friend's faces. It wouldn't make Gabe go away.

Annabeth wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. "Gods, Percy!" she yelped, pulling his head into her chest. It seemed as though it was too much for Percy, so small tears began trickling down his cheeks.

Poseidon stood up, stony faced, ignoring the pandemonium breaking out about the room. He flashed out before anyone could stop him, disappearing into a sea breeze.

Moments later, he reappeared with a tall woman with white eyes and whitish/blonde hair. She had soft features and a tall pose, wearing an all white dress that went well with her milky skin. She frowned turning to Poseidon.

"Where is the boy?" she asked softly, looking the Sea God in the eyes. Her voice was sort of wispy and whimsical. Poseidon slowly walked towards Percy with pained eyes, putting a hand on his head. The woman –assumingly a goddess, nodded.

"Who are you?" Hercules, seemingly the least caring, asked. The woman gave him a small glare before answering.

"I am Mnemosyne, goddess of memory." She replied. Her voice sounded sort of fuzzy, the way you would hear it when you were in a dream. The gods, still slightly upset, turned to Poseidon.

"What is the meaning of this?" Zeus asked softly, for once not wanting to bother Poseidon. Said god sighed, not answering, but gesturing for Mnemosyne to place a hand on his son's head. Wide, fearful sea-green eyes, blood-shot from tears looked at her, before she did the deed.

Doing so, the son of Poseidon passed out, his head falling limp. A soft cry erupted from the cluster of demigods, turning to the memory goddess with wide eyes. She simply put a finger to her lips, shushing them.

Her finger glowing, she put a gentle finger in the center of his forehead. Her eyes closed, her face directed in front of the son of Poseidon's, before both of their bodies began to glow a bright gold color that bounced of the walls, nearly blinding the occupants of the room. They all had to shield their eyes in order to prevent being blinded, even the gods.

And then they weren't there any more.

They were in a large, black room, almost as if they were in outer space. There were bright, scattered stars twinkling this way and that, not to mention a huge, blurry screen hovering over a very familiar body…

"Percy!" Annabeth yelped, reaching forward to try and grab him. And arm went in front of her, causing her to swivel her head. Mnemosyne.

"You can not disturb it now. It will kill him." The woman spoke calmly, as if this were not a life or death situation. For some reason, her words soothed Annabeth, who simply nodded and took a step backwards. Thalia put a comforting hand on her shoulder, shooting the worried girl a weak smile.

Mnemosyne held both hands out, closing her eyes once again. A faint glow emitted from them, before the screen blurred to life. It showed a young boy about seven, eerily similar to seven year old Percy, maybe a year or two younger –five or six. His sea-green eyes still had the same light they always had, but they had a glint of fear in them, almost as if he were trying to hide it. He was tugging on the leg of a taller woman with long brown hair cascading down her back like a river of chocolate and bright blue eyes –his mom, apparently.

P.J. whimpered when he saw it. He remember that day.

"_Mooomy! Don't leave me with Gabe!" the boy whined, his eyes big and pleading. His eyes were directed at something off-screen._

_The woman sighed, leaning down so that she was eye level with the boy. "I'm sorry, Percy-" they all turned to look at P.J., who was now sobbing in the arms of Young Annabeth, who was trying to focus on both Percy and the screen. "-but they need me at work, sweetie." Percy wouldn't meet her eyes, instead looking down at his toes._

_She sighed. "I love you, Percy."_

"_I love you too, mommy…" he mumbled, unable to remain mad at his mother. She cast him a quick smile, which he didn't return. With a sigh, she exited the room, closing the door behind her._

"_Looky here," a voice sneered. "Looks like we're alone. The screen zoomed out so you could see Percy and… what was that?_

_The… man, they guessed, had an odd tuft of hair on his balding head, beady eyes narrowed in Percy's direction. His lips were twisted into a sinister smile, revealing yellow, bulky teeth matching the man himself. His shirt was way too small and covered in sweat stains._

_Percy scampered as he backed up into a corner, trembling slightly as he looked at the giant man before him. The man –they had guessed it was Gabe, at that point, followed Percy's actions._

_Before they could blink, Gabe grabbed Percy by the hair like a puppy, slamming his head into a wall. Percy let out a soft yelp, but oddly enough, he seemed used to it._

"_Fun for Gabe," the man sneered, flinging Percy to the floor. Percy let out a soft whimper, turning pleading sea-green eyes on the man above him, who simply glared further._

"Stop!" Artemis cried. "This is cruel! Stop!" she had been unable to watch anymore, digging the palms of her hands into her eyes. Apollo pulled her into a comforting hug, his eyes still locked on the brutal events on screen.

"_Crawl, boy. You don't deserve to walk." The man sneered, before pausing. "Simply a pet. A disturbance. Replaceable. Unnecessary. Expendable." He began listing off adjectives, Percy wincing with each one, nodding slightly as if agreeing to himself._

"This isn't right…" Athena mumbled. "We shouldn't be seeing this," she continued, watching sadly. She was unable to pull her eyes away for some odd reason.

_As the man had been speaking, he had been reaching behind himself and reaching to grab something. In the middle of what would apparently be the last insult, he brought down the object he had grabbed, making a sickening crack when it collided with Percy's back. Percy let out a cry of pain his eyes beginning to water. Blood seeped from Percy's backside. _

_He was whipped._

"God… Percy…" Annabeth mumbled quietly, tears seeping from her eyes. A soft hand was placed on her shoulder, and she turned to see Thalia, tears streaming down her own face. Thalia shook her head, her eyes not leaving the screen.

_Gabe sneered, continuing to follow up in the whipping as the true beating began. Blow after blow, he ignored Percy's pleads and protests, smirking with triumph every time Percy screamed as if it were music to his ears. Once he was finished, he left Percy whimpering there in a pitiful heap, covered in his own blood. With one last choked sob, Percy closed his eyes, and fell unconscious._

Everyone sat in a shocked silence. They had no idea that had happened to Percy, just as they had no idea they were back in the throne room, that Mnemosyne was gone, or that Percy himself was leaning against a pillar, his dark bangs shading his face ominously as he watched their reactions.

"Now do you see?" Percy asked. They froze at the ice in his voice, turning slowly. They barely restrained the gasp escaping their lips when they saw his stature –dark and menacing in a way that wasn't Percy at all. "Now do you see why I was so afraid!?"

"Percy-" Annabeth tried.

"No! Don't Percy me! None of you! You guys always rant all the time about how your parents neglected you or abandoned you and get sooo mad when I zone out after the billionth time! Did you ever stop to think that someone might just have it worse than you?!" the look he was giving them as he asked that made their hearts stop. It was the same look Luke would give when he ranted about how awful the gods were –pure hysteria. In a way, it was worse. It was almost as if the reminder left Percy… broken.

"Luke! You got to run away from it all! I tried to run away! Oh, yes, I tried-" Everyone looked shocked at that. They had no idea that Percy had tried to run away. "But he always found me. Every single time!" He kicked the pillar with so much force the whole building shook.

Percy paused. "You wanna know what I got my first year with him, when I was four?" he asked lowly. The way he said it made them lean forward in a sick satisfaction. As much as they hated that this happened to him, they found themselves latching on to his every word due to the somewhat engaging topic. Human nature is a fickle thing, always, as much as we deny it, so entertained by the dark, awful things happening to people. "I got a trip to the Emergency room. Apparently I had 'fallen' down the stairs. Obviously enough, Gabe pushed me. Did my mom see this?" he let out a quick, hysterical laugh of disbelief. "No,"

He started to circle the pillar, his fingers graving every nick and bump on the side of the pasty column. He seemed… insane, almost. "When I turned five, that was the first year he used the belt. Of course, once again, my mom didn't notice a thing." He took a deep breath. "No one did," he stopped circling the pillar, beginning to lean forward in an ominous way.

"I turned six, I got stabbed through the hand with a pencil," Percy had subconsciously begun to rub a circle in the palm of his hand with his thumb. He glared at them as if he couldn't believe they had to nerve to question his past, which was kind of the truth.

"Seven, my mom scraped up enough money to take me to the zoo." He let out a hoarse, very un-Percy-like laugh, "I cracked my head open in the lion pit when Gabe supposedly 'bumped into me.'" He made air quotes around the words. If looks could kill, right now they would be vaporized. He turned away from them, quiet for a moment, clawing the tears that threatened to fall out of his eyes.

"I turned eight. Gods that year was awful. You wanna know what happened?" he asked them softly. He turned back to face them, eyes fiery. "Well, do you!?"

"Percy-" Hazel tried to calm him this time.

"He had his poker buddies over that day." He continued, not listening for their answer. "He let them do whatever they wanted to me! Anything!" he screamed the last word for emphasis, his eyes wide and frightened as if he were afraid they were going to throw him to the wolves. As the meaning of his words set in, they felt their hearts catch in their throats.

"Percy…" Annabeth mumbled this time, unable to believe it had happened to him. She spoke louder this time. "Percy, listen-"

"I'm not done!" he yelled at her. She felt her eyes widen. Percy had never raised his voice at her. It just wasn't Percy.

"Nine, beat me senseless with a baseball bat." He continued, speaking quicker now. "Ten, broke every single one of my fingers! Eleven, didn't get a single meal for a week! Twelve, gods that year is probably worst, you wanna know why?" he didn't even wait for an answer. "I don't even remember! I was so traumatized my own memory rejected it!"

"Percy, I'm sorry this happened-" Reyna began.

"Sorry doesn't fix anything! Sorry doesn't fix the fact that he did all of that to me!" Percy screeched. He turned his furious, tear filled glare in Luke's direction. "Now do you see? I know exactly how it feels to cry yourself to sleep! To hide in you own home! But tell me this. Do you know what it's like to worry whether or not you'll wake up the next day? Do you know what it's like to lock your doors at night for fear of what he'll do to you? Do you know what it's like to feel completely helpless? No! Of course you don't! You could hide! There was no hiding! I couldn't stop him! He ruined me! He broke me! He took everything from me!" Percy let out a choked sob at the end of his little rant, pulling his arms into his chest. "Everything…"

Once the words escaped his lips, he collapsed to his knees, his legs splayed out on either side of him, his fingers embedding themselves into the marble. Dust collected at the end of the new handprints, mixing with the tears sliding down his cheeks.

Annabeth decided to take a drastic leap of faith, but it needed to be done. The wind was acting up as well as a harsh storm, the earth shaking slightly. The kids were fearful at the son of Poseidon's story, beginning to cry themselves, yet Young Annabeth remained strong for her own bawling P.J. in her arms. Future Annabeth slowly approached the vulnerable boy before her, wrapping in arm around his shoulders. To her surprise, he buried his head in the crook of her neck and sobbed. His legs had pulled themselves up to his chest so he was in a fetal position, sobbing his little heart out. Annabeth had to entangle her fingers in his hair in order to prevent herself from trembling.

The look in his eyes when he glanced up at her momentarily made all of their guts wrench. It was pure fear and pain and raw vulnerability. For the first time, they saw how truly broken Percy was. "Everything…" he mumbled again, burying his face in her arms again.

Annabeth took a few moments to analyze. The gods seemed ashamed –served them right –the heroes looked stunned, the past heroes seemed to occupied staring at P.J. The worst reaction came from her group. Most were crying, some were still, in shock.

She tried to look at Percy's face again, but all she got was his head landing in her lap. With a jolt, she realized that he had fallen asleep. Giving a quick sigh, she began to run her fingers through his soft hair.

"How did he hide it?" Thalia asked softly. She had crawled next to Percy and Annabeth and now sat next to Annabeth, looking sorrowful yet shocked at the boy in Annabeth's lap.

:A façade," Athena answered. Seeing the looks of confusion she was sent, she continued. "A masking of emotions. It seems as though Percy has been hiding his emotions from you all along." Surprisingly, she was sorrowful. Despite her hate for the boy, she did not agree with what had happened to him.

"Don't look up just let them think there's no where else you'd rather be. It's obvious that your dying, just living proof that the cameras lying, so open wide, 'cause it's your night, so smile, and you'll go out in style," Apollo mumbled. They blinked at him. "Fences by Paramore," Leave it to the god of music.

"Did you know?" Annabeth hissed at Grover, her eyes narrowed. Grover rapidly shook his head.

"I knew Gabe was bad but…" he didn't need to finish. They understood. They turned to wake Percy, but Annabeth stopped them.

"Let him sleep. He needs it," they all exchanged quick glances, before nodding in agreement with her. That amount of emotional baggage being released in one day is bound to drain the energy out of a person, especially after keeping it all in for as long as Percy had kept his secret from them.

"Shall we continue?" Dionysus asked, surprisingly shakily. As much as he hated the little brat, he did not agree with beating children. It was cruel and… well, abusive.

Hades nodded slowly, beginning to read.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

"Good, stay defiant," Hermes muttered to himself.

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

"Uh oh…" Nico muttered, eyes darting to his sleeping cousin. That didn't sound good.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Athena blinked, her eyes going wide as she read that. She turned a questioning eye to Grover, who nodded weakly, his eyes still slightly bloodshot over crying for his best friend.

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"The pig did math? Impossible!" Hestia, the calm one, spat. They looked at her oddly, but she waved them off, taking her anger out on the fire, trying not to blow something up, which was odd for her. She was normally very peaceful, but they couldn't blame her for being angry. Anyone would be –and they were.

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"Someone has a heart…" Nico hissed quietly, eyes narrowed.

"No, he probably just got tired of using Percy as a play toy, the little crack head," Thalia spat, planning a million ways to torture them all.

**"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

"Butthead…"

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

"Eww… you're right Thals," Nico replied, looking green in the face. Thalia nodded slowly, looking a little green herself.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"The deed is done," Dionysus muttered darkly, his eyes glinting with a sheen of insanity. Talk about a creeper.

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

"Like you're one to talk, Idiot!" Young Annabeth snapped at the book, unable to take it anymore. She muttered a quick 'sorry' when P.J. flinched in her arms at her tone.

P.J. shrugged. 'It's okay. Just… jumpy," he told her. She nodded slowly.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

"Yuck," Aphrodite hissed. "That beastly man,"

"Poor Percy…" Annabeth sighed, subconsciously running her fingers through his silken locks.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

"Even then he keeps using sarcasm," Thalia sighed. 'Got to love that Kelp Head…"

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds,**

"Really?" blinked the gods.

'Well, considering what we just saw," Athena gestured toward the unconscious Percy. "I think yes,"

**or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

"Well, now that he knows what it is…" Annabeth prompted, still looking down at his perfect, tan face. She didn't need to finish, however.

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

Cue shivers.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

"Yes?" Percy mumbled in his sleep. Annabeth smiled slightly, being the only one who heard it.

"Nothing, Seaweed Brain. Sleep," She whispered softly. Percy nodded sleepily, his eyelids drooping. He obliged her wishes.

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

"Aww…" Aphrodite cooed. P.J. blushed.

"Mama's boy," Young Clarisse taunted. P.J.'s face turned a violent shade of red as he glared at Clarisse, only to stop as a calming hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned, coming face to face with none other than Young Annabeth.

"I think it's sweet," she mumbled. Percy cast her a grateful smile, to which she returned.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.**

"Cute," Piper couldn't resist mumbling. She ignored the looks the now not jealous Jason and Leo gave her.

**Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.**

"What a wonderful mother," Hestia sighed dreamily. "I'm sure Rhea would have been just as great," she looked into the coals of the fire wistfully, dreaming about her own mother, and wishing for the day when they could meet truly.

**I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"Wow, that takes a lot of work…"

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

"He always seems to grow…" Annabeth sighed, reminiscing on the time when she was taller than him. It seemed like so long ago.

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"Candy…" The Stolls and Leo drooled. They were each whacked by their respective girl, giving yelps of protest as well.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

"That's so cute!" Guess who said that.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

"You know it!" P.J. mumbled quietly. Young Annabeth giggled.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"**

"What!?" Thalia asked through gritted teeth. "That pig wants dip? I'll shove it right up his-"

"Thalia! Language!" Nico snapped. Thalia turned her glare on him.

"So? That pig-"

"We can't do anything about it, as much as I hate to say it. You're a tree and I'm locked in a hotel," he reminded her. With a sigh, she sat by his side, glaring all the while.

**I gritted my teeth.**

As did everyone else in the room.

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world.**

"And gives birth to the nicest people in the world." Annabeth sighed, running her fingers through the apparent nicest boy in the world's hair.

**She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"Not as fun as you'd think," Rachel and Piper sighed, slumping their shoulders in defeat. They were given sympathetic glances, to which they shrugged off.

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself.**

"Almost…" Demeter recognized.

**I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner.**

"Aww…" Grover mumbled. "I missed you too, Perce.. even though I had just seen you," Grover sighed. Perce just had to be such a softie, didn't he?

**Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

"Yeah… she's better then Gabe," Theseus bet. Everyone jumped, having forgotten the heroes. They guess it was in their nature to be… quiet and respectful.

**Until that trip to the museum ...**

"Yeah... monsters are like that," Orion spoke this time. Hercules glared at them both.

"Don't interact with them," Hercules hissed. They looked away, not wanting to upset their leader.

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

**"No, Mom."**

"Don't lie to your mother," Hera snapped. She was ignored, but they secretly agreed.

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"No, Percy…" Annabeth sighed. "It's important."

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

"Sally is too nice…" Poseidon sighed. "But that's why I love her," a wistful expression overtook his face as he turned his head to stare out the window.

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

"That'll get him excited," Thalia laughed.

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

"See?"

**"Three nights—same cabin."**

**"When?"**

"Eager, are we?" Nico hummed.

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

Perseus scoffed. "Not enough money, my foot,"

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

Cue more gritting of teeth.

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"Good," everyone exhaled in relief.

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"Of course she was serious, you idiot," Reyna hissed, finally letting her anger at the man who hurt her fellow Praetor seep out. Child abuse was absolutely despicable, especially when directed at someone as young and innocent as Percy. She had maintained her mask for quiet some time but couldn't hold in her anger any longer.

"Geez, Ice Queen," Leo teased. Unbeknownst the others, they had been… bonding. "Someone's snappy,"

"Zip it, Fire Boy," she hissed, glaring furiously. He gulped, but nodded.

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"He better," Poseidon growled. Seeing the look on his younger version of his son, he sighed. Turning to look at his older son –so peaceful as he slept, with Sally's warm smile, he visibly relaxed.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

Hermes smiled mischievously. "Ahh… Bribery."

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"CLOTHES BUDGET? CLOTHES BUDGET?" Aphrodite screamed. "Why, that little-"

"Shh…" Annabeth hiss. She pointed a finger down at her lap so they could all see the son of Poseidon roll over in a restless attempt at sleep. 'Don't wake him."

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

"Honey…" Poseidon mumbled grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest like an impertinent child.

**"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

"He's not worried about them, just his dumb car. Well I have a few choice words for you, buddy-" Thalia began to stand up from her spot, but was pulled down by Nico.

"This can't be changed, Thals," he muttered to her. Glaring furiously she nodded.

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"Don't do it, Percy!" Hazel cried. No one mentioned that she was talking to a book. They had been thinking the same thing.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

"Do it!" Surprisingly, everyone said that.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

"But we can," Thalia pounded a fist into her other hand, having to be restrained by Nico, who looked about ready to unleash her himself.

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

Nico nodded, smiling slightly. "There's his sarcasm again…"

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"Bet you he can't…" everyone muttered bitterly.

**"Yeah, whatever," he decided.**

"What an idiot," Annabeth sneered. Everyone nodded in agreement.

**He went back to his game.**

"Wow… that's just sad," Hermes snickered quietly.

**"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

Nico snorted. "Percy's getting caught," he sang quietly.

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

"She does!" the demigods yelped. Percy stirred in his sleep, so they hushed their voices.

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

"Food…" the boys drooled. Needless to say, they got whacked.

**An hour later we were ready to leave.**

"Good." Annabeth breathed out in relief.

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the whole weekend.**

"That… little…" Annabeth and Thalia muttered incoherently under their breath angrily. Nico scooted away from them.

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Like he'd be the one driving," Theseus scoffed.

**Like I'd be the one driving.**

Theseus blinked, but instead of scowling like he had last time, he smiled slightly. He was actually kind of beginning to like his little brother.

**I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

"Huh… maybe everyone really does blame Percy…" Reyna mused. Everyone exchanged quick glances, before shrugging.

**Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain.**

"Huh?" the gods asked in unison.

"Ooooh… Percy powers!" The Stolls grinned, leaning forward in anticipation.

**As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe.**

"Observant…" Athena mused. "There is hope for the boy yet."

**The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair case as if he'd been shot from a cannon. Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

"WHAT?" everyone screamed. Percy stirred, so they lowered their voices.

"That isn't supposed to do something, it just keeps them away…" Zeus mused quietly, staring at the boy in Annabeth's lap. "One powerful demigod…"

"Maybe he also manipulated the water particles in the air?" Athena suggested.

"Wouldn't be the first time…" Thalia sighed, giving a small wince. "Who knew he could use it to whack people with baseball bats?" she sighed. The futures winced at the reminder, ignoring the looks they got from the gods.

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

"Always wanted to do that," Nico sighed wistfully, trying to cheer them all up. It works slightly, eliciting a few chuckles.

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

Shivers from the Athena crew.

**and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

"Like you'd mind…" Katie mused.

**I loved the place.**

"Only Percy…" the futures and pasts who had grown close with P.J. sighed. P.J. blushed.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her.**

"It's where she met dad…" P.J. mumbled quietly, glancing subconsciously at his father, who was observing the book in rapt eagerness.

**It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

"Aww!" Aphrodite sighed. "True love…"

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

"That's why I love her…" Poseidon sighed wistfully. P.J. smiled at that. His mom deserved someone like his father –someone who loved her. Why did he have to be a god?

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What's with the blue food?" Zeus questioned, raising an eyebrow. Annabeth smiled down at the boy in her lap.

"It's a Percy thing." She sighed, stroking his soft hair.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"Yes, please," Zeus sighed.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shop. This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"Percy doesn't have a streak. He doesn't know the definition of obedience," Thalia scoffed. Nico snickered quietly, while P.J. blushed.

"Whoops?" P.J. said, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly, a small grin on his face. He had recovered from the revelation thanks to his new friends.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

"Aww… Mother/Son bonding!" Hera and Aphrodite squealed in unison. It was a scary sight.

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

Poseidon smiled at that. His son truly did love him. He had made the perfect child.

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"Oh my gosh, he _is_ a mini Poseidon!" Apollo yelped, glancing between the sleeping Percy, P.J. and Poseidon. Said god shrugged.

"And they are both tall, handsome, and powerful!" Aphrodite squealed. Poseidon and P.J. blushed, and Percy mumbled some incoherent gibberish in his sleep, rolling over in Annabeth's lap.

"I know, and he's mine," Annabeth sighed, but there was a firmness in her voice as if daring someone to try and take him from her. She entangled her fingers in his hair at the mere thought of someone taking her Percy. He was _hers_.

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"I am…" Poseidon smiled. P.J. grinned, and a smile graced Percy's lips in his sleep.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.**

Thalia sighed. "Percy… you need a confidence boost. You're the freaking savior of Olympus, get it?" she told the sleeping boy. Obviously, she got no reaction.

"Give him a rant later, okay?" Annabeth sighed. Thalia shrugged.

"Maybe I will,"

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"**

"Oh…" the gods sighed, dejected.

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

"Oh, la, la," Aphrodite wiggled her eyebrows at Poseidon, who then proceeded to blush.

"Children here!" he yelped. Aphrodite shrugged.

"I'm sure they know," she reasoned.

"We don't need to, though," Annabeth continued hastily, waving her arms back and forth In front of her chest. The other demigods made rapid waving motions at Hades, praying he would get the message.

**"But... he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

"I hate that ancient law…" the gods muttered in unison, along with multiple bitter demigods.

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

"Illegal," Zeus murmured quietly. He was ignored.

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me...**

"That's so sad…" Aphrodite muttered… again.

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

"I'm so sorry, Percy…" Poseidon muttered, hoping his son heard him. P.J. smiled and shrugged slightly, and he knew he was forgiven.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

"Food…" the boys mumbled dreamily. The girls sighed in exasperation.

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"Percy!" Annabeth scolded the sleeping boy in her lap. No reaction except for a soft shuffle in his sleep.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Good," Annabeth mumbled, kissing his forehead.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

"That's so sad…" Gosh, Aphrodite. She needs a new line.

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"Definitely not, but in a good way," Hazel smiled.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

"Thought…" Hera scoffed quietly.

**"Safe from what?"**

"Oh, just the titans, giants, and monsters seeking revenge…" Nico waved a hand dismissively.

"Yeah, nothing much," Thalia snickered.

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

Cue raised eyebrows.

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"Cyclops?" Demeter blinked, turning to Poseidon with a raised eyebrow. Said god shrugged.

"Checking up on him." He stated simply. P.J. grinned that his father cared.

**Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

"Like you, Hercules," Orion elbowed him, as Hercules turned away.

"That wimp is not like me," he hissed at his groups. Theseus shrugged.

"I think we should be nicer. This kid seems to be a big deal. Besides, he's been through a lot," Theseus ranted, putting a finger in the air like the wise guy he was.

:To bad. I'm the boss, I make the rules." Hercules corrected, poking Theseus hard in the chest.

:Well, not anymore," Perseus had suddenly stood. "We like the kid. He isn't arrogant, like you. And he has my name," he added the last part rather cheerfully, before resuming a straight face. "Now come on, guys, we're leaving," they marched over to the demigods, who looked at them with shocked faces. They waved it off, though.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

"That stinks… how many times has he moved, do you think?" Nico asked. All he got was shrugs in response, except for Annabeth, who facepalmed.

"Six times. Six schools… six moves," she told them slowly. Their mouths formed a quick 'o' of understanding.

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"Tell your mother!" Hera snapped coldly.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't stand to do it."**

"That's so-"

"Sad. We get it Aphrodite," Dionysus sighed, not looking up from his magazine. Said goddess huffed.

"Well,"

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

"Camp," the gods corrected.

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"An awesome summer camp," the demigods corrected.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

"Yeah," P.J. looked purely hurt. "Why is she keeping it from me?"

"To protect you, Percy," Beckendorf told him, bumping his shoulder with his fist.

"Yeah, she's keeping you safe," Silena added, blushing slightly. She was obviously not only trying to comfort Percy, but impress Beckendorf with her smarts.

P.J. smiled slightly. "Thanks guys,"

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

"Nope. Percy's powerful," Thalia corrected, nodding as if agreeing with herself. The futures did as well.

"But camp can get sort of boring," Young Annabeth sighed. Annabeth shook her head.

"Not once Percy gets there. He makes it.. well, interesting," the futures smirked as Annabeth said that, causing the past demigods to perk up. Maybe it would be a little fun, after all.

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."**

"An amazing summer camp," Conner corrected. The demigods nodded in agreement.

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she would start to cry.**

"Woman using their tears against us!" Hermes pointed an accusing finger at the first girl he saw, which just so happened to be Aphrodite. He lost said finger, but thankfully, it grew back.

"Never underestimate the goddess of love…" Piper muttered to Leo and Jason. They snickered quietly.

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

"When don't you?" Annabeth asked, shaking her head at the book. The futures nodded in agreement.

"No offense, Rach, but Perce could replace you in the dreams department," Katie told her. Rachel shrugged.

"I know. It's kind of creepy really," she giggled suddenly, putting a hand to her lips. "Gods. Percy, a virgin oracle Annabeth would hate that," Snickers erupted at Annabeth's red face.

"Zip it,"

"Zipping,"

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

Cue glances at Zeus and Poseidon, who looked anywhere but each other.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder. I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, No!**

"Ha!" Zeus yelled. "I beat you!" A smug expression overtook his regal features, looking at his brother as if he were fresh meat. Poseidon glared.

"Not necessarily." Poseidon reminded him. "We missed the end," Zeus grumbled, but didn't argue.

**I woke with a start.**

"Booga Booga!" Nico called, wiggling his arms. He bent the shadows around him, trying to be scary. The younger demigods yelped, but the futures merely rolled their eyes, used to this by now.

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

"Nice metaphor," Ares grinned wickedly. Artillery. Guns. War. Boom!

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

"Crash, crash burn, let it all burn. This hurricane's chasing us all underground." Annabeth grinned. Seeing the odd looks she received she answered. "That's, like, one of Percy's numerous theme songs we secretly gave him. Gotta admit, it goes well,"

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

"Yikes," Apollo shivered. Creepy."

"No dib, Sherlock," Artemis mumbled quietly. Apollo huffed, but smiled when she bumped his shoulder lightly, realizing she wasn't being mean like usual. She was being a sister.

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

"One, two, Freddy's comin' for you. Three four, better shut the door…" Thalia sang. Nico snickered quietly.

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

"Threw open the shutters and threw up the sash!" Thalia said quickly, her words coming out as gasps of anticipation. She ignored the looks she was sent. She loved the Night Before Christmas.

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"Huh?"

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

"What was he thinking?" Annabeth repeated quietly to herself as she stared at the sweet boy in her lap. She brushed a strand of his dark locks from his face. Gods, he was so cute.

**My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

"Of course. Losing a child can be terrifying," Hestia muttered quietly, staring at the flames. She poked it with a stick. It must be so sad to lose the one thing that hasn't left you," she continued. People looked at her in awe at her wisdom, yet she ignored it.

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

"Always tell your mother the truth, kids," Hera held up a finger as if explaining that two plus two was four and that Moby Dick was not a real whale, etc. They ignored her, as the average child does to their teacher.

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

"Use your brain, boy!" Athena exclaimed to book Percy, which obviously couldn't hear her. People rolled their eyes. And she was supposed to be the wisdom goddess.

**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!"he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

P.J. blinked. How had he understood that he had said 'Oh Zeus and the other gods?'

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on—**

"Eww…." Aphrodite wrinkled her nose at that

**and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...**

"WHAT!? FINISH THE SENTENCE!" It was a miracle Percy didn't wake up when they yelled that. But the tension was killing them.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before:" Tell me now!"**

"Sally yelled?" everyone who had met Percy's mom asked in disbelief. They were ignored.

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

"Good. Tell your mother," Hera nodded in approval, ignoring the odd looks she was sent.

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you!"**

"Put you in my jacket pocket, took you to the meeting." Travis sang quietly. People raised their eyebrows at him, momentarily forgetting the tension.

"Come on!" he exclaimed loudly, waving his arms around. "Four Way Crimp? Haven't ya'll heard it?" he questioned. People shook their head once again. He huffed, shaking his head in disbelief.

**Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked. Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.**

"I'm exhausted," Annabeth sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She hadn't noticed the shocked form of P.J. a few spots over.

"But… but the… you're a satyr!" Percy yelped. Everyone resisted the urge to roll their eyes.

"No duh, idiot," Future Luke hissed, completely ignoring the past abuse Percy went through. P.J.s eyes narrowed, before flicking his wrist and…

"You soaked me! You're seven!" Luke yelped, his blonde hair dripping with water. P.J. shrugged.

"Yup. I just used the words from the book and poof! Anyways, time to go to bed, right?" he asked, turning his pleading, sea-green eyes on Annabeth.

She sighed, and nodded.

"Bed time…"

**Tada!**

**Wow, that was dramatic. It took forever to write that! *sigh* the abuse part was long enough to be a one shot on its own –over two thousand words. Whoop Dee Doo and all that.**

**Oh, and if you want, you can look up Four Way Crimp on Youtube that the Stolls sang. It's hilarious! And one of Percy's theme songs that was mentioned was Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars. I personally think Move Along by All American Rejects goes with him.**

**Anyways, if it was too dramatic (it may have been, maybe not. I mean, ya'll wanted it big and stunning, right?) Then sorry. I may have gotten a little carried away, but hey, I looove when the main character goes through pain. I'm sadistic like that. Mehehehehe.**

**Peace out, guys.**

**-Hannah, or PJO.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey y'all! It's PercyJacksonObsession here!**

**Okay, so sorry if you thought the last chapter was a bit much. I've been going nuts over it! I'm just like *chews nails* Please don't hate me, guys. Anyways, thanks for the cheery reviews! I'm so glad you guys think it's original! I worked really hard to try and work on that. And for all you guys worried about lack of other character input, I'm working on that too, but gosh, I had no idea writing all these opinions and staying as close to character as possible would be so hard! Oh, and this will contain Jason becoming nicer, Percabeth fluff, Jasper fluff, minor Tratie fluffiness, etc… the usual. I haven't decided whether or not to pop Thalico in there, so just tell me whether you want Thalico or not in the comments below (I feel like I'm some sort of YouTube Star… Ahh… YouTube…)**

**Note: I have not had my first kiss, so I can't really describe a kiss. Just a warning. But… Guess waaaat! I'm turning 14 on the twentieth! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE! IM TURNING FOURTEEEEEN! I STILL GO TO MIDDLE SCHOOOOOOOOL AAAAAND I LOVE MY PERCY! Like my song? No? Aww…**

**The next chapter will be a filler chapter, but it has a bunch of bonding, clearing things up, and Wii Games (They are still teenagers, after all). Oh, and maybe, a little surprise at the very end. *winks* Enjoy!**

**Song I'm listening to: It's Time by Imagine Dragons (Awesome name for a band)**

**P.S. the first dialogue up until the second "…" is an actual event that previously happened to me… like… yesterday. It was pretty funny. I was Rosalina! (The character on Mario kart. She's from Super Mario Galaxy). I have strange friends… but we all do. The best friends are the ones you can tease and they won't get offended.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson isn't mine… sigh... Nor is Mari Kart… or anything Mario related,,, or Taylor Swift… nothing, really…**

"The ramp! The ramp, Yoshi! Get to the ramp!"

"Speed up! Faster! Faster! Come on, Mario!"

"Come on, Rosalina! Swerve! No, not the… waterfall…"

"Ha! I'm gaining on you! I'm gaining on you!"

"How much longer! I want a turn!"

"Would you like some cheese with your whine?"

"I'm not old enough…"

"Sarcasm, Leo, sarcasm…"

"Oh…"

"…"

"…"

To most, this conversation would be pretty strange. However, to this specific pack of rambunctious demigods, it was the simplest thing in the world. They had argued over plenty of random things, and this was pretty random as well, but they'd argued over worse.

"Aww! Come on!" Jason yelped, holding his forearms upwards and gesturing to the screen as if navigating a plane to landing. "No fair! I totally beat you!" he yelled defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest with a playful glare.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Piper chided, wiggling a finger as if teaching him some philosophical preaching and what not. "I believe it is I who won. I did, after all, get the points." She waved in the direction of the screen with an air of triumph, like a pageant queen. She smirked. "It seems as though I'm just better than you,"

Jason sighed dejectedly. "Butthead…" Piper rolled her eyes as he grumbled this, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're back to normal…" she whispered as her face brushed against his to pull away. He immediately blushed, unable to form coherent sentences, Leo snickered.

"Whipped…"

They were all gathered around a movie theatre sized television, with a Wii plugged in. A golden Wii. On the screen, random characters danced on pedestals with racecars in the background, holding various trophies. Each demigod sat on the front beds in the giant bedroom, separate from the younger children who had somehow already gotten to sleep, despite the fact that teenagers usually need as much sleep as infants –according to the internet.

"Can you tone it down…" an exhausted voice whined tiredly from the bed behind them, shoving a pillow over his head. "I'm trying to sleep," the voice was muffled now, a few strands of messy black hair peaking out from under the fluffy white panda pillow pet (For some reason, the Romans –sans Jason –had laughed when he got this).

Eyes widened about the room. "You're awake!" they all yelped in unison. Percy rubbed his sleepy eyes behind the pillow, groaning as he sat up, his shoulders slumped. His hair was a disheveled mess, his eyes still half-lidded and weary. His head was lolled to the side lightly from the temptation of crawling back under the plush covers, his posture crumpled and completely drained.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Sleeping Beauty," Thalia grinned cheekily, ruffling his already unruly hair like he was an innocent child, which he sort of was… only not so innocent, they now knew. "And I thought I was dramatic. You went out with quite a bang." She drawled, poking him on the cheek playfully. Percy was not amused.

"Understatement," Frank coughed into his fist. Hazel rolled her eyes at him, whacking him on the back of the head, yet she was grinning. She was most likely glad their friend was most likely better now, or that they were finally together after all of the obliviousness. The world may never know.

Percy's eyes furrowed as he tried to remember the previous events, his eyes dilating once he remembered and coming to focus on the group of his anxious friends before him. "O-oh." His voice cracked mid-sentence with realization, just before he let out a hiccup. Annabeth giggled as he crossed his eyes.

"Someone's got the hiccups!" Reyna grinned, uncharacteristically cheerful. Despite Percy's average obtuse nature, he could quite easily see that they were putting up this happy façade just for him, as he had done for them all those years. He frowned deeply.

"You guys don't have to pretend, you know…" he told them, his voice hoarse and scratchy as if he hadn't used it in a while. He cleared his throat, just before giving out another hiccup. "I know I kind of…"

"Exploded?" Leo suggested bluntly. Needless to say, he was going to have a headache after the serious amount of whacks he got –maybe even a minor concussion.

"Yeah… that…" Percy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, a sheepish smile playing across his lips, disappearing just as quickly. "It's just…" he swallowed hard enough for his hiccups to go away, not meeting any of their eyes.

"We know…" Annabeth murmured, intertwining their fingers. "Trust us, we know…" she froze as she said this, deciding to reword it. She gave them all the look when she was about to rant.

"Well… actually, we don't…" she corrected herself. "Nor will we ever. None of us truly went through that. Sure, we feared maybe it might happen eventually, but it never really did. And you're right –we do always complain, and we definitely shouldn't." she paused, checking Percy's face to see if he was following. She smiled softly as she saw the intent look of concentration on his face. He had always though he looked hot when he tried to concentrate.

"But…" she said slowly, squeezing his hand gently to encourage him. "It doesn't mean we won't try. This is…" she swallowed. "A _huge_ deal. And we know that you didn't tell us for a reason, so I'm not mad at all. But… I mean…" she fumbled over her words, before sighing to look him dead in the eyes.

"But we love you. Our past doesn't define us, and the abuse doesn't define you. If anything, it makes you stronger than any of us ever thought you were –hiding all that like you did. And not for you, for us…" she trailed off. "I guess what I'm trying to say is-"

She was abruptly cut off as Percy's lips slammed into hers, the undeniable electricity between them shaking her to the core, making her skin tingle with glee down to her toes. Her eyes flicked to his closed ones in surprise. Annabeth felt Percy smile against her lips, his arms snaking around her waist. She couldn't resist the smile that crept onto her own lips as she fisted his soft black hair in her hands to pull him closer, kissing him with even more passion than before, the electricity intensifying to a shocking feel that should have made them light up the entire world. She closed her eyes softly to remember the little moments like this –moments she missed while he was gone –his heart beating against her chest, her own pounding so fast she could only pray he didn't hear it. The kiss wasn't intense or intimate or anything, it was just… a nice, slow kiss, yet with love and gentleness only Percy could give her.

However, they immediately broke apart at the sound of howling laughter, only to see Clarisse rolling back and forth on the hard wood floor with her hands crammed to her sides as if they had been super glued there, screaming "GODS, THE FEELS!" On the top of her lungs like a mad woman, her mouth opening so wide it looked like she could eat a cow.

"What the Hades?" the pair asked in unison, eyebrows up into their hairlines. Clarisse rolled onto Percy's foot before rolling back over by where she had previously rolled, then back again, and forth. It was quite the odd sight.

"THE FEELS!" She wailed, beginning to wiggle her arms around. "GODS, SO MUCH PERCABETH!" she cried, stuffing her whole fist in her mouth and sitting up by Chris and rocking back and forth, muttering incoherent gibberish around her hand about Percabeth and oddly enough, Taylor Swift.

"Ooookay…" Percy drawled, shifting uncomfortably. "That was… weird…" he subconsciously scooted more into Annabeth, causing them to tumble off the bed and onto the floor so Percy that was leaning above her, both of their eyes wide and their cheeks flushed.

"Uhh…"

"Geez, you two can't keep your hands off each other, can you?" Piper teased just as their lips were about to meet again. Percy and Annabeth turned to them with wide eyes, Annabeth pushing Percy off of her and onto his back, both of them laughing like crazy –the type of laugh you have when you're relieved the awkward tension has been resolved.

"Why's Clarisse mumbling about Taylor Swift?" Percy laughed, his chest heaving. At that, they all turned serious, sans Annabeth, their eyes directed at the giggling couple. As if it was an ancient ritual of epic proportions, Will, being the son of the God of Music, ceremoniously placed a laptop before the couple, now with dazed expression. With extreme caution, Percy opened it, immediately bombarded with:

"_Hit me with those green eyes_

_Baby as the lights go down_

_Give me something that'll haunt me_

_When you're not around_

_Cause I see sparks fly_

_Whenever you smile…"_

"Huh?" Percy and Annabeth blinked. "What's this got to do with anything?" they asked quizzically, looks of pure confusion mirrored onto both of their faces. It was sort of odd, as if their brains were synced.

Thalia sighed, shaking her head shamefully. "Next one. Let's have the lovebirds see the truth." she declared, clapping her hands together loudly and slamming her finger down on the enter key.

"_You throw your head back and laugh like a little kid,"_

Then…

"_You're the kind of reckless that should send me running,"_

And let's not forget…

"_He has his father's eyes_

_And if you ask me if I love him_

_I'd Lie"_

Or maybe even…

"_You make me crazier.."_

Not to mention

"_Fighting monsters with you…"_

By the end of the montage, Percy and Annabeth were gaping at the computer screen with wide eyes, the blue glow casting shadows on their faces to make them look slightly ominous, despite the gaping look of awe on their faces. Their mouths were so wide you could see their uvulas. "That… sums up our relationship perfectly…" Annabeth gasped.

It was pretty true. Percy had beautiful green eyes he got from his dad, he was reckless, he made Annabeth a rebel, he was childish, Annabeth saw sparks fly whenever he shot her that pearly white smile

Chris nodded solemnly, his hands folded in his lap. He unfolded one hand to pet the now-back-to-normal Clarisse on the top of the head gently. "Yes. Tis the point." He responded, giving a small nod. "We believe that she may have accidentally snuck into Annabeth's mind."

"I mean come on! Green eyes! Running fingers through hair! Reckless!? TOTAL PERCABETH!" Katie cried loudly, gesturing around wildly with her arms.

"Wait…" Conner interrupted slowly. "How did we get from child abuse," he held out one hand on one side, "to Taylor Swift?" he held out the other hand to his other side as he questioned this, his face taking on a look of pure confusion.

They all exchanged confused looks. "We dunno…" they said in perfect unison, adding a shrug to punctuate the sentence. "But let's not get back on the topic…" they finished, looking of in separate directions now.

"So… now what?" It was Jason that spoke this time.

Complete silence. "Weeelll…" Percy drawled, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. "Uh…" His eyes darted back and forth about the room as he searched for something to do. It was pretty obvious that he had no ideas

"… Mario Kart?" Travis suggested lightly, shrugging his shoulders and grinning hopefully.

Annabeth smirked widely. "I have a better idea…"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"PIKACHUUUUUUU!"

"Since when did Pikachu beat Samus?" Annabeth yelped, throwing her hands in the air, the nun chuck cord nearly strangling her as she completed the action. Percy smirked, his arms wrapped around her as she leaned on his chest.

"The best things come in small packages," he grinned wildly, dodging another glowing shot from Annabeth's Samus character by making his Pikachu jump. Thalia and Nico huffed.

"Come on, Zelda! It's just a thunderbolt! Run!" Thalia cried, leaning more into Nico and sticking her tongue through her teeth in determination. Nico leaned away from her, his eyes narrowed at the screen. Thalia was not going to distract him now.

"You do realize you just insulted your superpower, right?" Leo reminded her, most likely just trying to make her made because he was jealous he didn't get to play that round. A quick zap in the shoulder made him stop talking.

"You got this, Bowser! Get the blue glowy thing!" Nico yelped, his finger's pushing the nun chuck upwards to jump. "You got this, Bowser!" He called again. The Bowser on screen roared, almost like it was agreeing with him.

"Actually," Percy grinned triumphantly, his Pikachu now glowing bright blue on screen. "I got this." He smirked, his finger lowering to press the B button.

"It's just a Pikachu…" Thalia shrugged, a hint of nervousness in her voice upon remembering the five points ahead of her Percy was with said Pikachu. "It's not like he's gonna-"

"PIKACHUUUUUU!"

"HOLY ZEUS!" the remaining three cried as Percy cackled maniacally, his Pikachu now a swirling ball of death. The onlookers leaned forward, the glow of the television screen illuminating their faces.

"Volt Tackle!" Percy laughed, watching as the ball of electricity danced about the screen, knocking Bowser out of the Pictochat battle zone.

"Whoa…" they marveled at Pikachu as it whooped the other's butts as if it were a piece of cake, knocking them far off the battlefield. Percy smirked as the timer rolled to an end, calling out the end of the game.

"And that, my friends, is why Pikachu is the coolest video game character of all time," he grinned, punching a fist in the air. "I just owned you all!" he cried, doing a tiny little happy dance. Annabeth punched him light-heartedly on the shoulder, just happy he was back to normal. And the look on his face was pretty adorable too, but it's not like she'd tell him that.

"Yeah, yeah," she grinned, shaking her head. She glanced at the neon clock on the wall. "Time for bed. It's two in the morning and we're gonna be up all day tomorrow." She reminded them.

"But Aaaannabeth!" Percy whined. "I'm not tired!"

She rolled her eyes. "That's what you always say, but then your out like a light." She said, poking him on the nose so his eyes crossed as he tried to see it. "Bed time."

"You're not my mom!" The Stolls cried, crossing their arms over their chests defiantly, maybe a little more dramatically then they needed to.

"Do it or I kill you," Annabeth snapped through gritted teeth. The other demigods gulped, sliding into their respective beds in the giant bed room. It was almost like their cabins, except for the fact that they weren't half-siblings, just really close friends. And these weren't bunk beds.

"Told you she was grumpy before she went to bed…" Percy mumbled slyly to Hazel and Frank. They covered their mouths to suppress snickers, casting quick glances at the very frustrated daughter of Athena.

"Geez, and you guys say I'm tough…" Reyna grumbled, sliding into a purple bed and under the covers comfortably. Octavian sniffed, sticking his nose in the air.

"Maybe she would make a great praetor than. The tougher the bett…er…" he trailed off at the look he was shot by the Romans, nestling deep into his blue covers so all you could see of him was his eyes.

"Night!" Percy called into the darkness, clapping twice so the lights went out and enveloped them in darkness.

"Night!"

"Night Annabeth."

"Night, Percy."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Percy…" a perky voice drawled, nudging the black-haired boy in the nose. "Percy…"

Percy groaned as he rolled over, shoving the pillow over his head. "Five more minutes, mom…" he mumbled, pushing the face away with his hand. That is, until it was licked.

"Hey!" he yelped, bolting upright so the pillow fell off of him, wiping the spit on whoever woke him up's shoulder. Said person yelped, punching him in the shoulder so he fell back down, his lack of energy causing him to be unable to resist falling back into the pillows. He groaned again as he sat up, coming face to face with the furious grey eyes of his girlfriend.

"Uh… whoops?"

"Percy…" she sighed, shaking her head. She turned to Jason, Piper, and Leo. "I told you he was bad in the mornings," she told them. Frank and Hazel, upon hearing this, started to snicker.

"Whatever…" Percy grumbled, levering himself into an upright position, one hand on his head. Annabeth giggled at his disheveled appearance, tossing him a pair of jeans and a dark green T-shirt.

"Better get dressed, Seaweed Brain!" she chirped cheerfully, prancing out of the room with her hair flouncing over her shoulder. Percy sighed as he stared after her, shaking his head at her sudden mood change.

"Girls…" he sighed again, slipping out of bed so that he could change. He slipped on the shirt and jeans, thankfully the last person in the room. Maybe Annabeth was right –he was bad in the mornings, wasn't he?

He trudged down the hall and back into the throne room, were the past demigods were chatting aimlessly and the heroes sat looking bored, as did the gods. Percy sighed, plopping down next to Annabeth on a couch as she shoved a granola bar in his face. He took it from her with a small glare, ripping open the wrapper and stuffing some in his mouth,

The gods cleared their throats, bringing the demigod's attention there. Casting a quick worried look at Percy to which he ignored, Hades passed the book to Hera.

"So…" Orion drawled uncomfortably, scooting away from Hercules, who glared at the heroes in anger, still mad about their littler anarchy. "I guess we read?" he suggested.

"Ye-" Hera was cut of as yet another bright light went off, forcing them to shield their eyes. Where the light once was there now stood a rather tall girl, seemingly thirteen, with wavy black hair that tumbled past her shoulders and enchanting sea-green eyes mirroring Percy's. Next to her stood a boy with curly blonde hair, about a year younger, with stormy grey eyes and a knowing look that he sent this way and that. In front of him stood two other boys, both looking exactly the same, around ten, both with sea-green eyes and curly black hair. In the first girl's arms was a young girl about five with wavy blonde hair and bright sea-green eyes, hugging a long, blue blanket in her arms.

"Who are you?" Percy blinked, standing protectively in front of Annabeth. The five children turned to him defensively, before widening their eyes.

The oldest girl stepped forward, placing the youngest girl on the floor, the little girl's blanket dragging along with her. "I'm Andromeda, but call me Andy, this is Luke," she gestured the next boy, "These two are Charlie and Beckendorf, but we call him Beck, and the youngest of us is Zoë." The demigods blinked.

"Are you demigods?" Zeus asked skeptically. "Who are you're parents?". The girl, now dubbed as Andy, rolled her eyes.

"Of course not, Zeus. Our parents are Percy and Annabeth Jackson, the Heroes of Olympus. Now a better question is, why do you two look like our parents?" she asked the shocked duo, flicking her finger between them.

"Oh my gods…"

**Whaaat?**

**I just had to do that! I've always imagined their family, and now… yeah. **

**I loooved writing this chapter! The Clarisse thing came to me in a dream –literally, and I was juts like "OMG I am sooo putting this in there." So yeah. And the Percabeth… gods, my feels went wild to, Clarisse. Mine too.**

**Anyways, onto a more urgent topic, I am currently working on my first fanfiction with its own real plot, not just reading or a one-shot! *shoots streamers* Yay! It's really… long. And… angsty *grins deviously.* For all you angst lovers… it's called Hurricane (No, it's not about a Hurricane. It's just a reference). Lot's of death and… stuff. (I do believe there are at least six deaths…) Yeah. I'm posting it… soon.**

**Another thing. Do you think I should replace the futures by making them poof out and send in the Tartarus futures who remember everything at the reading stuff or should I bring in the Tartarus guys as well as the average futures? Geez, that sounded better in my head… Anyways… you're decision, guys.**

**I love ya guys! (I say guys a lot, don't I?)**

**-Hannah, or PJO (PercyJacksonObsession)**


End file.
